flunky

or flun·key

[fluhng-kee]

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR flunky ON THESAURUS.COM

noun, plural flun·kies.

a male servant in livery.

an assistant who does menial work.

a toady; yes-man.

Nearby words

Origin of flunky

First recorded in 1775–85; perhaps alteration of flanker

Related formsflun·ky·ism, noun

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Examples from the Web for flunky

The photographer's flunky stepped away to tell the chauffeur.
H. R.|Edwin Lefevre
Somehow all the world seemed to be in a conspiracy to make him flunky to the cook.
Bat Wing Bowles|Dane Coolidge
That flunky of a flunky is personified as the hero of the story, Isaac Abraham Takif.
The History of Yiddish Literature in the Nineteenth Century|Leo Wiener
"Yes, sir," replied the flunky, moving toward the sideboard.
Peter|F. Hopkinson Smith

Mr. Lowington was no "flunky," and never sought admission to the presence of royalty, for himself or his pupils.
Dikes and Ditches|Oliver Optic

British Dictionary definitions for flunky

flunky

flunkey

noun plural flunkies or flunkeys

a servile or fawning person

a person who performs menial tasks

usually derogatory a manservant in livery

Word Origin for flunky

C18: of unknown origin

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Word Origin and History for flunky

flunky

also flunkey, 1782, Scottish dialect, "footman, liveried servant," of uncertain origin, perhaps a diminutive variant of flanker. Sense of "flatterer, toady" first recorded 1855.