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• hunker
  hunker

  verb (used without object)

  to crouch or squat on one's heels.
• Hunker
  Hunker

  noun

  a member of the conservative faction in the Democratic Party in New York State, 1845–48.

hunker

¹ American  

[huhng-ker] / ˈhʌŋ kər /

verb (used without object)

1. to crouch or squat on one's heels.

   He hunkered to be at eye level with his dog.

   I can’t hunker with this bad knee.

2. 1. to hunch.

      The driver hunkered over the steering wheel.

   2. to hide, hide out, or take shelter, often for just a few hours or less, as from a pursuer or a storm.

      The escaped convicts hunkered in a cave in the mountains.

   3. to settle in to the safety of one’s home or other designated shelter for a potentially prolonged time, as would be necessitated by a natural disaster or an outbreak of a contagious disease.

      Many local residents hunkered in the basement of the fire station.

3. Slang. to lumber along; walk or move slowly or aimlessly.

   A small black bear was seen hunkering through the neighborhood.

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noun

1. hunkers, one's haunches.

verb phrase

1. hunker down. see hunker down.

idioms

1. on one's hunkers,

   1. British Informal. squatting on one's heels.

   2. suffering a period of poverty, bad luck, or the like.

Hunker ² American  

[huhng-ker] / ˈhʌŋ kər /

noun

1. a member of the conservative faction in the Democratic Party in New York State, 1845–48.

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hunker British  

/ ˈhʌŋkə /

verb

1. to squat; crouch

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Other Word Forms

• Hunkerism
  noun
• Hunkerousness
  noun
• Hunkerous
  adjective

Etymology

Origin of hunker¹

First recorded in 1710–20; apparently hunk (perhaps nasalized variant of huck “haunch”; akin to Old Norse hūka “to crouch”) + -er ⁶

Origin of Hunker²

An Americanism dating back to 1835–45; origin uncertain

Explanation

To hunker is to crouch: to bend your body into a low, small shape. When you're playing hide and seek, you may decide to hunker in the back of a closet until you're found. You hunker physically when you're hiding or making space for other people or squatting to talk to a small child. You can also hunker figuratively, like when you hunker down in your house during a snowstorm, waiting to venture out until the roads have been plowed. Another way to hunker down is to focus on a task and work extra hard. We know hunker is a Scottish word, but beyond that its origins aren't clear.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

hunker Hunker

“There’s an overall unsettled sense that there are too many uncertainties and too many problems, so let’s all hunker down.”

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 27, 2026

Local authorities advised residents to hunker down, with rain forecast for the next day and a half.

From BBC ● Apr. 20, 2026

Determined to survive, Iran might initially hunker down or seek to draw out any conflict.

From Barron's ● Feb. 28, 2026

For flights six hours and longer, you can hunker down and make your way through a film franchise or an entire season or seasons of a television series.

From Los Angeles Times ● Dec. 10, 2025

The other boys, I assumed, had gone home to hunker down for the day, hoping without much hope that their parents wouldn’t hear about our errant rocket.

From "October Sky" by Homer Hickam

Hunker down, because here it comes: Risotto is not that hard.

From Salon ● Jul. 2, 2023

The headline “The Hunker Games” was submitted independently by Kevin Dopart, Tom Witte and Beverley Sharp; Jesse Frankovich wrote the honorable-mentions subhead.

From Washington Post ● Apr. 22, 2020

“Just go back home. Don’t worry about it. Hunker down.”

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 26, 2017

Morgan JPM 0.37 % banker David Hunker, who focuses on activism.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Nov. 4, 2015

Diddler's "heyday" being over, he next becomes a politician—an old Hunker; attends caucusses and conventions, dinners and inaugurations.

From The Humors of Falconbridge A Collection of Humorous and Every Day Scenes by Falconbridge