1
as in down
not being in working order
The website went haywire when it was overloaded with visitors seeking tickets.
Synonyms & Similar Words
Relevance
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
2
as in mad
unable to think in a clear or sensible way
She gradually went haywire with grief after the tragic death of her husband.
Synonyms & Similar Words
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
as in uncontrollably
Related Words
Dissimilar Words
Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of haywire
Billy Perrigo,
Time,
28 Oct. 2025
The Baltimore Orioles' season went haywire fast after a disappointing offseason that saw ace Corbin Burnes walk, and with no real replacement added to their pitching staff.
—
Hunter Mulholland,
MSNBC Newsweek,
22 Oct. 2025
See All Example Sentences for haywire
Adverb
Robot meltdown — The LLMs also sometimes went haywire in unexpected ways.
—
Billy Perrigo,
Time,
28 Oct. 2025
The Baltimore Orioles' season went haywire fast after a disappointing offseason that saw ace Corbin Burnes walk, and with no real replacement added to their pitching staff.
—
Hunter Mulholland,
MSNBC Newsweek,
22 Oct. 2025
See All Example Sentences for haywire
Recent Examples of Synonyms for haywire
Adjective
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Even in a down year in which playing a rookie would have been more beneficial, Jones didn’t play much for the Pacers.
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Stock prices, meanwhile, ticked higher Wednesday after a down day Tuesday.
Adjective
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Or that Penélope Cruz’s sultry chilliness would jibe with either her male counterparts or Wilde’s diary-of-a-mad-housewife interpretation of a brittle, eager-to-impress woman brimming with creative frustration.
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Are Nationals fans still mad at Bryce Harper for leaving?
Adverb
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Hydroplaning is the term for when a vehicle begins sliding uncontrollably on wet roads.
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Back in their dorm room after the beating, Valentine watched as Okeadu began to tremble uncontrollably.
Adjective
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The Orange County District Attorney’s Office has opened an investigation into the owner of a malfunctioning chemical storage tank in Garden Grove that has forced the evacuation of tens of thousands of residents as fire crews race to avoid an explosion.
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Despite the accomplishments, Artemis II astronauts had to contend with a more mundane problem -- a malfunctioning space toilet.
Adjective
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The defense argued that Bland had a psychotic episode due to a COVID infection.
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The experience in question was a psychotic break that Murray endured in 2017 after spending several months involved with a wellness cult, coming to believe herself capable of powerful healing abilities.
Adverb
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And when Andreeva hits one of her crazily creative shots and turns to Martínez for praise, she is met with a smile, and maybe some clapping.
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The scene used one of the film’s funniest visual gags, an apartment so crazily tilted that nobody inside it could stand up straight.
Adjective
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Dramatic footage from Beijing posted on social media showed debris falling from the 109-story CITIC Tower, also known as China Zun, as well as a tail section of the plane and a broken window of a taxicab on the ground.
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Photos showed what appeared to be a hole or broken glass on one side of the building.
Adjective
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For example, Fred Again is absolutely doing insane things with the MPC Lives.
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That dwarfs anything the powerhouse Spain teams did in the early 2010s, when the team was known for stringing together an insane number of passes that led to a goal.
Cite this Entry
“Haywire.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/haywire. Accessed 3 Jul. 2026.
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