Hun

American  

[huhn] / hʌn /

noun

1. a member of a nomadic and warlike Asian people who devastated or controlled large parts of eastern and central Europe and who exercised their greatest power under Attila in the 5th century a.d.

2. (often lowercase) a barbarous, destructive person; vandal.

3. Older Slang: Disparaging and Offensive. a contemptuous term used to refer to a German, especially a German soldier in World War I or II.

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Hun British  

/ hʌn /

noun

1. a member of any of several Asiatic nomadic peoples speaking Mongoloid or Turkic languages who dominated much of Asia and E Europe from before 300 _bc , invading the Roman Empire in the 4th and 5th centuries _a.d

2. informal (esp in World War I) a derogatory name for a German

3. informal a vandal

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Sensitive Note

The disparaging and offensive use of this term likens the Germans to the barbarous and warlike Huns of the 4th and 5th centuries. The source of the comparison was a speech by Kaiser Wilhelm II in 1900, encouraging German soldiers bound for China to act toward the Chinese just like “the Huns a thousand years ago.”

Usage

What else does hun mean? Hun can be a term of endearment, a phonetic spelling from a shortening of honey. It's also used as a derogatory slang term for women involved in multi-level marketing.

Other Word Forms

• Hunlike
  adjective

Etymology

Origin of Hun

before 900; 1895–1900 Hun for def. 3; singular of Huns, Old English Hūnas; cognate with Old Norse Hūnar; akin to Late Latin Hunnī

Example Sentences

Li owned 62 percent of Huione Pay's shares, while Hun To owned 30 percent, according to a report by liquidator Reachs & Partners.

From Barron's • May 6, 2026

A cousin of Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Manet said Wednesday he owned a 30 percent stake in a digital payments platform linked to cyberscams and money laundering and sanctioned by Washington.

From Barron's • May 6, 2026

Despite mounting warnings about Chen and his Prince Group companies, Hun Sen’s son, Hun Manet, retained Chen as an adviser when he succeeded his father as prime minister in 2023.

From The Wall Street Journal • Apr. 20, 2026

In AD 452, when Attila the Hun sacked city after city in his conquest of the known world, it was the Catholic Church, not the Roman military, that met him in a show of diplomacy.

From Los Angeles Times • Apr. 13, 2026

Some pair they made: Attila the Hun and Gracie the useless.

From "The Westing Game" by Ellen Raskin