squirrelly

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squirrelly

/ˈskwɝli/ US
/ˈskwɪɹəli/ UK

Rhymes with -ɜː(ɹ)li, -ɪɹəli

Where it comes from

From squirrel + -ly, 1925. Presumably from the erratic movement of squirrels, or by analogy with nuts (“insane”).

adjective squirrellier · more squirrelly · squirrelliest · most squirrelly · squirrely

figuratively, of a person Eccentric. Mom can act a bit squirrelly sometimes, and I swear it's usually worse after sunset.
Similar: batty, nuts, nutty, aberrant, abnormal, anomalous, balmy, barmy, bizarre, crackpot, cranky, eccentric
figuratively Unpredictable or jumpy. "This aircraft seems to be acting a bit squirrelly," the pilot complained uneasily to his copilot.
of an animal Literally so. Some of these lemurs seem almost squirrelly.

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MLA

"squirrelly." Wiktionary, via Micwyn, micwyn.com/word/squirrelly. Accessed 6 Nov. 2026.

APA

squirrelly. (n.d.). In Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Retrieved November 6, 2026, from https://micwyn.com/word/squirrelly

Chicago

"squirrelly." Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Accessed November 6, 2026. https://micwyn.com/word/squirrelly.

BibTeX

@misc{squirrelly_2026,
  title = {squirrelly},
  howpublished = {Wiktionary, via Micwyn},
  year = {2026},
  url = {https://micwyn.com/word/squirrelly},
  urldate = {2026-11-06}
}