manky
Britishadjective
-
worthless, rotten, or in bad taste
-
dirty, filthy, or bad
Etymology
Origin of manky
via Polari from Italian mancare to be lacking
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
A manky bird on her balcony jolts Sara from semi-wakefulness right after she’s had a dream of her dying father.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 7, 2025
“I was a kid during these times. I was born in 1990. These manky MP3 players were what I had,” says a typically cheerful Nixon, early in the morning from his home in South Australia.
From The Verge ● Jun. 24, 2022
Most Elizabethans had manky teeth, terrible skincare and bad lighting.
From The Guardian ● Apr. 1, 2019
“The texture of the background has this manky surface at the bottom,” he said, with satisfaction.
From The New Yorker ● Nov. 20, 2016
Autumn's fungussy, berries’re manky, leaves're rusting, Vs of long-distance birds're crossing the sky, evenings’re smoky, nights're cold, autumn’s nearly dead.
From "Black Swan Green" by David Mitchell
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
