Hun
- a member of a nomadic and warlike Asian people who devastated or controlled large parts of eastern and central Europe and who exercised their greatest power under Attila in the 5th century a.d.
- (often lowercase) a barbarous, destructive person; vandal.
- Older Slang: Disparaging and Offensive. a contemptuous term used to refer to a German, especially a German soldier in World War I or II.
Origin of Hun
Usage note
Related Words for huns
clod, ruffian, monster, Philistine, lout, boor, hooligan, rascal, brute, cannibal, bigot, beast, ignoramus, vandal, troglodyte, hunExamples from the Web for huns
Contemporary Examples of huns
Getting closer to solving an ancient mystery: where did the Huns come from?
In total, 31 Huns were buried in the tombs that were discovered at the foot of Salkhit of Rashaant Soum in Khuvsgul Province.
Historical Examples of huns
She thinks the Huns are waking up and civilisations going under.
The PrisonerAlice Brown
Gave me the butt while the Huns were using the bayonet on me.
The Million-Dollar SuitcaseAlice MacGowan
To her also for the moment the scientific savagery of the Huns was remote.
The Paliser caseEdgar Saltus
The latter is considered to be a likely point of attack on the part of the Huns.
"Huns are moving along the road in X 429 b and c," said a voice.
Pushed and the Return PushGeorge Herbert Fosdike Nichols, (AKA Quex)
Hun
- a member of any of several Asiatic nomadic peoples speaking Mongoloid or Turkic languages who dominated much of Asia and E Europe from before 300 bc, invading the Roman Empire in the 4th and 5th centuries a.d
- informal (esp in World War I) a derogatory name for a German (def. 2)
- informal a vandal
Word Origin for Hun
Word Origin and History for huns
Hun
Old English, person from a tribe from central Asia that overran Europe in the 4c. and 5c., from Medieval Latin Hunni, apparently ultimately from Turkic Hun-yü, the name of a tribe (they were known in China as Han or Hiong-nu). Figurative sense of "reckless destroyer of beauty" is from 1806. Applied to the German in World War I by their enemies because of stories of atrocities, but the nickname originally was urged on German soldiers bound for China by Kaiser Wilhelm II in 1900, which caused a scandal.