Nutty

Part of speech: adjective

Pronunciation: /ˈnʌti/

Definitions

1. Having the flavor or character of nuts, especially in food or drink; exhibiting behavior or ideas that are somewhat odd, unusual, or eccentric
2. Characterized by a nut-like taste or aroma; showing signs of mild insanity or quirky, unconventional thinking
3. Describing a food with a nut flavor or nut pieces included; relating to someone who acts in a strange, whimsical, or unconventional way

Etymology: "Nutty" is about as plain as English word-building gets: the noun "nut" with the adjective-forming suffix "-y" added to it, meaning something has the flavour of a nut. The noun itself has a long pedigree, traceable back through Old English "hnutu" to a Proto-Germanic form "*hnuts", which was the ancestor of nut-words across the Germanic languages. The suffix did most of the work here. "-y" arrived in English as Old English "-ig" and was carried through Middle English "-y", which gave English a productive way to turn nouns into adjectives such as "milky", "sandy" and "hairy". Attaching it to "nut" simply produced a description of flavour, with no special story behind the coinage.

Synonyms: crazy, absurd, eccentric, bizarre, quirky

Antonyms: sensible, rational, reasonable, logical, normal