wonky

1
[ wong-kee ]
See synonyms for wonky on Thesaurus.com
adjective,won·ki·er, won·ki·est.Slang.
  1. (of a person) shaky, groggy, or unsteady.

  2. not exactly straight or balanced; off-kilter: a wonky chair with an uneven leg.

  1. not working properly; faulty; unreliable: Something went wonky with my computer.

  2. crazy; mad: That's just odd logic and wonky reasoning.

Origin of wonky

1
First recorded in 1915–20; perhaps variant of dialectal wanky, equivalent to wank(le) (Middle English wankel, Old English wancol; see wench) + -y1
  • Also won·kish [wong-kish]. /ˈwɒŋ kɪʃ/.

Words Nearby wonky

Other definitions for wonky (2 of 2)

wonky2
[ wong-kee ]

adjectivewon·ki·er, won·ki·est.Slang.
  1. stupid; boring; unattractive.

  2. relating to, appealing to, or characteristic of a wonk; concerned with minute details of a topic or issue: a wonky bureaucrat.

Origin of wonky

2
First recorded in 1975–80; wonk + -y1
  • Also won·kish [wong-kish]. /ˈwɒŋ kɪʃ/.

Other words from wonky

  • won·ki·ness, noun

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024

How to use wonky in a sentence

British Dictionary definitions for wonky

wonky

/ (ˈwɒŋkɪ) /


adjective-kier or -kiest British informal
  1. shaky or unsteady

  2. not in correct alignment; askew

  1. liable to break down or develop a fault

Origin of wonky

1
C20: variant of dialect wanky, from Old English wancol

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