Dictionary.com
Thesaurus.com
Synonyms

hunky

1 American  
[huhng-kee] / ˈhʌŋ ki /

adjective

Slang.

  1. satisfactory; well; all right.

  2. even; leaving no balance.

hunky 2 American  
[huhng-kee] / ˈhʌŋ ki /

adjective

hunkier, hunkiest

  1. Slang. (of a male) handsome and having well-developed physique.

hunky 3 American  
[huhng-kee] / ˈhʌŋ ki /
Or hunkie

noun

(sometimes initial capital letter)

plural

hunkies

  1. a contemptuous term used to refer to a person of Hungarian or Slavic descent, especially an unskilled or semiskilled worker.

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.

He’s both movie-star hunky and action-star engrossing, flitting between these two deceptively binary ends without breaking a sweat.

From Salon • Mar. 21, 2026

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

Though O’Brien is flexing his emotional range here, his hunky sincerity lands in part because Sweeney remains steady in the opposite registry.

From Los Angeles Times • Sep. 5, 2025

“Thank you, sir. Sir—” “Don’t mention it. How do you like living out there in the woods, Chaplain? Is everything hunky dory?”

From "Catch-22" by Joseph Heller

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.