spanking
Americanadjective
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moving rapidly and smartly.
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quick and vigorous.
a spanking pace.
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blowing briskly.
a spanking breeze.
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Informal. unusually fine, great, large, etc.; remarkable; distinctive.
a spanking monogram in gold embroidery.
adverb
adjective
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informal outstandingly fine, smart, large, etc
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quick and energetic; lively
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(esp of a breeze) fresh and brisk
noun
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of spanking
1660–70; perhaps < Scandinavian; compare Danish, Norwegian spanke, Swedish spånka to strut
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.
“When we’re launching a new movie like this, any time it’s brand spanking new, it takes a little more work to get retailers excited,” Lee said.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 24, 2025
The 7-0 spanking in September - described as "rock-bottom" by a Shanghai-based newspaper – followed a year-long line of humiliating defeats which included losses to Oman, Uzbekistan and Hong Kong.
From BBC ● Mar. 26, 2025
As a parent, it was important to April that she did things differently than her own father, and although spanking was commonplace in the 1990s, April never laid a hand on Hunter.
From Slate ● Oct. 15, 2024
The spanking the 49ers took could do that.
From Los Angeles Times ● Dec. 28, 2023
As she’s all too fond of telling us, we are raising savages with all our new theories about talking, not spanking.
From "In the Time of the Butterflies" by Julia Alvarez
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.
