hunchback

[huhnch-bak]

noun

1. a person whose back is humped in a convex position because of abnormal spinal curvature.

2. humpback.

hunchback

/ ˈhʌntʃˌbæk /

noun

1. a person having an abnormal convex curvature of the thoracic spine

2. such a curvature

Other Word Forms

• hunchbacked adjective

Word History and Origins

Origin of hunchback¹

First recorded in 1705–15; back formation from hunchbacked

Word History and Origins

Origin of hunchback¹

C18: from earlier hunchbacked, huckbacked humpbacked, influenced by bunchbacked, from bunch (in obsolete sense of hump ) + _backed

Example Sentences

Though mean-spirited, the jester Rigoletto — Verdi’s hapless, vengeful hunchback — wins our hearts as the outsider whom a heartless world so often abuses.

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He saw the gloriously skewed al-Hadba minaret, known as the "hunchback", which had been emblematic of Mosul for hundreds of years, in ruins.

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Richard, described as “deformed” in the play’s opening lines, has traditionally been portrayed as a hunchback — almost always by able-bodied actors, with only a few notable exceptions in recent years.

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“The courtroom sketch artist hates him. I mean, absolutely, she turned him into the hunchback of ‘Bloatra Dame.’

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The character is referred to as a “hunchback” by a rude rival in the books — an example of the attitude of the Tudor period, with no allowance or acceptance of differences.

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