flunky
Americannoun
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a male servant in livery.
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an assistant who does menial work.
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a toady; yes-man.
noun
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a servile or fawning person
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a person who performs menial tasks
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derogatory a manservant in livery
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of flunky
First recorded in 1775–85; perhaps alteration of flanker
Explanation
A flunky is someone who works obediently for another person. You might apply for a job as a personal assistant, only to realize during the interview that it's really a job as a flunky. A flunky's job is to do whatever he or she is told to do, preferably without question, in a docile, dutiful way. A mob boss or other criminal mastermind might send flunkies out to do his dirty work, while in the old days a typical flunky was a footman or butler — a servant. This meaning comes from the Scottish flunkey, meaning "footman or liveried servant."
Vocabulary lists containing flunky
Tangerine
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Long Way Down
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Scythe
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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.
I just want to make it clear that the tweet wasn’t really about calling her a flunky.
From Slate • Oct. 20, 2023
"But," the flunky chortles, "I think it won't come to that."
From BBC • Mar. 25, 2022
Moreover, whereas their “Orient Express” had the detective prize integrity above all else, in this one he’s happy to be bought, taking on flunky jobs that earlier Poirots declined.
From Los Angeles Times • Feb. 11, 2022
Goaded by his chief flunky, he flies into a rage, assuming the woman is laughing at him.
From Salon • Feb. 8, 2020
I ain’t no flunky to be prancing around the countryside just waiting to get bit.
From "Dread Nation" by Justina Ireland
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.
