junky
1 Americanadjective
noun
-
junkies
plural
Other Word Forms
Noun Inflected Forms
Etymology
Origin of junky1
First recorded in 1945–50; junk 1 + -y 2
Origin of junky2
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:
He references “Wonder Man’s” most emotional scene, when Simon is in his junky Toyota Camry with Trevor, pondering quitting acting.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 3, 2026
The Russell 2000’s simplicity, being based only on size, causes it to include lots of junky companies—great in a bull market but less-so over the long term.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 26, 2026
It included absurd videos, off-kilter advertising images, cheesy propaganda, fake news that looks pretty real, junky AI-written books, “workslop” reports that waste coworkers’ time — and lots of talking cats.
From Salon ● Jan. 13, 2026
Even the artificial-intelligence trade, which has been producing profits, may be more junky than it seems.
From Barron's ● Oct. 23, 2025
That junky little Nokia with the cat-scratched display could work some minor magic.
From "Burning Blue" by Paul Griffin
Everything from diabetes to schizophrenia, he claims, is caused by Americans being junk food junkies.
From Salon ● May 18, 2026
After all, for some of us L.A. crime movie junkies, off-brand “Heat” is better than no “Heat” at all.
From Los Angeles Times ● Feb. 12, 2026
Asking college students why they bet on sports is like asking adrenaline junkies why they jump out of airplanes.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Dec. 2, 2025
It could have been for any other market research exercise, for washing powder or water bills, rather than anything to do with Westminster - so it wasn't a gathering of political junkies.
From BBC ● Jul. 5, 2025
“The object of attention. Nicole. Gossip junkies love the chase. End that, you end the story.”
From "Burning Blue" by Paul Griffin
“Then the portfolio gets a little junkier and if you keep doing that pretty soon the portfolio is upside down,” he said.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 18, 2026
Momentarily terrifying, they encouraged investors to “buy the dip” quickly and recklessly—the junkier the stocks, the better.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Nov. 17, 2025
The director Robert Schwentke, whose credits include “Flightplan” and junkier diversions like “R.I.P.D.,” takes on this franchise with generic competence.
From New York Times ● Mar. 19, 2015
He lays down simplistic but steady disco drumming, beautifully squelchy old synthesizer tones and a junkier version of the guitar-scratching perfected by James Brown’s old guitarist, Jimmy Nolen.
From New York Times ● May 16, 2010
Some are just slightly less junkier version of sugar-loaded snacks, but others are worth trying.
From Time Magazine Archive
The makes, the models, the mufflers that could furnish even the junkiest car with an impressive sound — how every detail felt like a secret he was revealing just to me, his only child.
From Salon ● Jul. 21, 2024
“It’s the escalating hype surrounding the release of the junkiest stuff, the willingness of the press to play along, the lust to be ‘No. 1 in America’ on thousands of screens.”
From Seattle Times ● Jun. 9, 2022
“Jonathan Demme is the American cinema’s king of amusing artifacts: blinding bric-a-brac, the junkiest of jewelry, costumes so frightening they take your breath away,” Ms. Maslin wrote.
From New York Times ● Apr. 26, 2017
Reynolds is an ingratiating actor who, because he's fun to watch, can save even the junkiest movie.
From Time Magazine Archive
It matches the yield on all but the junkiest junk bonds and, if you're careful, entails a lot less risk.
From Time Magazine Archive
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.
