hunky
1 Americanadjective
noun
Etymology
Origin of hunky1
An Americanism dating back to 1860–65; from obsolete New York City slang term hunk, used especially by boys at play for home base, home (the goal); from Dutch honk “post, station, base, home” + -y 1 ( def. ); see also hunky-dory ( def. )
Origin of hunky2
First recorded in 1910–15; hunk + -y 1
Origin of hunky3
First recorded in 1905–10; (bo)hunk ( def. ) + -y 2 ( def. )
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.
Other sports are full of hunky types, and football and basketball players are more likely to have all their teeth.
From The Wall Street Journal • Dec. 17, 2025
At the end of the performance, the duo threw dozens of heart-shaped pillows into the audience, all containing the phrase "te amo", supposedly stitched by their hunky counterparts.
From BBC • Nov. 14, 2025
You come out of the theater realizing that your hunky idol had negligible screen time — at least you think so.
From Salon • Apr. 13, 2025
Though Nan is not in the market for a husband, she will, on the strength of her unselfconscious exuberance, ready wit and obvious goodness attract the interest of not one but two hunky aristocrats.
From Los Angeles Times • Nov. 7, 2023
Instead of stepping back, the big hunky fellow sneered and said, “Thet with the string was jest a lucky shot. You cain’t do it agin.”
From "Cold Sassy Tree" by Olive Ann Burns
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.
