hunch
Americanverb (used with object)
-
hunches,
present (3rd person singular)
-
hunched,
past participle, past
-
hunching
present participle
-
to thrust out or up in a hump; arch.
to hunch one's back.
-
to shove, push, or jostle.
verb (used without object)
-
hunches,
present (3rd person singular)
-
hunched,
past participle, past
-
hunching
present participle
-
to thrust oneself forward jerkily; lunge forward.
-
to stand, sit, or walk in a bent posture.
noun
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hunches
plural
-
a premonition or suspicion; guess.
I have a hunch he'll run for reelection.
- Synonyms:
- conjecture, theory, feeling, surmise
-
a hump.
-
a push or shove.
-
a lump or thick piece.
noun
-
an intuitive guess or feeling
-
another word for hump
-
a lump or large piece
verb
-
to bend or draw (oneself or a part of the body) up or together
-
to sit in a hunched position
Other Word Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
-
hunchsimple
-
hunchessimple
-
have hunchedperfect
-
has hunchedperfect
-
am hunchingprogressive
-
are hunchingprogressive
-
is hunchingprogressive
-
have been hunchingperfect progressive
-
has been hunchingperfect progressive
Past
-
hunchedsimple
-
had hunchedperfect
-
was hunchingprogressive
-
were hunchingprogressive
-
had been hunchingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of hunch
1590–1600; 1900–05 hunch for def. 5; apparently variant of obsolete hinch to push, shove, kick < ?
Explanation
When you pose for pictures with short friends, you hunch over so you don't tower above them — you scrunch up your shoulders, bend your knees, and try to look smaller. You can also have a hunch, which has nothing to do with scrunching. When you have a hunch about something, you think it might be true. Your dog bolts over the fence, and you have a hunch he's heading for the neighbor who feeds him pâté. Hunch is an odd word of unknown origin, which seems to have originally meant "to push or shove" — to nudge.
Vocabulary lists containing hunch
Mockingbird
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Because of Winn-Dixie
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"A Village After Dark" by Kazuo Ishiguro
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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.
See Examples For:
Cain has a hunch the clientele will be as special as the place itself.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 6, 2026
In another group, the tablet lay flat on a desk set at a lower height, which encouraged participants to lean forward and hunch over.
From Science Daily ● Aug. 5, 2026
Recently, England have occasionally favoured hunch selections, with some players thrust into Test cricket without a great deal of first-class experience.
From BBC ● May 13, 2026
Matejka’s hunch is that unlike 2025, Magnificent Seven stocks may not set the pace in a rebound and the leadership may be more broad-based.
From MarketWatch ● Apr. 27, 2026
I hunch near the door and dip my hand into the sack for the scarf.
From "The Bletchley Riddle" by Ruta Sepetys and Steve Sheinkin
Much of the panic driving recent selloffs has been based on futuristic hunches or kneejerk assessments of the impact of new AI tools.
From Barron's ● Feb. 26, 2026
At the same time, the feats of Mr. Goddio and company—accomplished through a combination of mathematics, historical hunches and old-fashioned deep-sea diving—will keep a viewer afloat.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 14, 2025
When the workweek began, we’d convene with analysts from other agencies to murder-board our hunches on how and where the next attack might occur.
From Slate ● Jul. 4, 2025
"At that time publishers were much more prepared to back their hunches," he said.
From BBC ● Mar. 12, 2025
Christina hunches over, unable to support her own grief, and Cara embraces her, and all I’m doing is standing still.
From "Allegiant" by Veronica Roth
Instead, he was hunched over in a single foldout plastic chair in an otherwise empty room, looking spent.
From Slate ● Jul. 30, 2026
Once again, Walker Kessler sat hunched forward, ears and eyes intently locked onto the person whose words would change his life.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 6, 2026
The soundtrack is a series of bleeps and pings as fresh data is fed to dozens of men in T-shirts and hoodies hunched over joysticks and keyboards.
From BBC ● Apr. 27, 2026
“Those last scenes with me looking like a lonely old lady walking hunched over in the garden? Boy, I told him to get rid of those,” she said, referring to the documentary’s director, R.J.
From Salon ● Apr. 16, 2026
I crossed the street with my shoulders hunched and my head down.
From "The Light in Hidden Places" by Sharon Cameron
To challenge that, he made Clark Kent a nerd, hunching his shoulders, making him sputter with nervousness.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Feb. 7, 2026
She is unassuming, often hunching her shoulders and bowing her head modestly as she walks toward the starting blocks before a race.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 21, 2022
"Then I saw a monkey hunching over my child."
From BBC ● Jul. 25, 2022
Some of the mothers put their all into the screaming, hunching over and throwing their arms back, according to videos Harmon shared.
From Seattle Times ● Jan. 23, 2022
Bridge bounced off the bed and sat in her desk chair, hunching forward to face Emily.
From "Goodbye Stranger" by Rebecca Stead
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.
