nutty as a fruitcake
Totally off-kilter
Nutty as a fruitcake means crazy or eccentric.
The phrase plays on two senses of nutty—literally full of nuts (like the dense holiday cake) and slang for mentally unbalanced.
The comparison emphasizes degree: not just odd, but thoroughly so.
My uncle's nutty as a fruitcake—he thinks the government is beaming messages through his fillings.
- wackyAmusingly eccentric
- nutsSeeds in shells
- bonkersWildly irrational, unhinged
- out to lunchDistracted, unaware of surroundings
- not all thereMentally deficient somehow
crackers · mad as a hatter · eccentric · quirky · cuckoo · unhinged · off one's rocker · off the deep end · zany · bananas · daft · batty · deranged · barking mad · delusional · out of one's mind · loony · screwy
- folk sayingsproverb, adage, maxim, folk saying, old saying
nutty as a fruitcakesane
Mentally healthy, clearheaded
of sound mind · rational · level-headed · lucid · compos mentis
nutty as a fruitcakenormal
Conforming to standard
sensible · reasonable · conventional · down-to-earth · grounded
fruit, nutty, fruitcake, nutcase, nutshell, nutcracker, nuttiness, nutmeat, nuthouse