swanky
Americanadjective
adjective
-
expensive and showy; stylish
a swanky hotel
-
boastful or conceited
Usage
What does swanky mean? Swanky means fancy, stylish, or classy, especially in a showy or expensive way. It is often used informally.Swanky can refer to something that is ostentatious (over the top) or something that is very elegant. Either way, the unifying element is fanciness.Example: Anna doesn’t usually get a chance to eat at fancy restaurants, so she really enjoyed the gourmet food at the swanky office party.
Other Word Forms
- swankily adverb
- swankiness noun
Etymology
Origin of swanky
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.
Great crime fiction can take root almost anywhere—in a rock-strewn wilderness, a London legal sanctuary, or a swanky Manhattan apartment tower.
There are plenty of different designs out there, including utility models that you can actually use off road, swanky status symbols and legions of suburban family wagons.
From BBC
Glasspool will be marking their triumphant season with dinner at a swanky London restaurant with family, team members and sponsors.
From BBC
She always charged double to the swankily dressed; at solitaire she cheated like mad.
From Literature
Ultimately, one suspects Perkins views Liz’s dilemma as little more than an excuse to construct a fun exercise in nightmare inducement that possesses the same craftsmanship that Malcolm clearly put into his swanky cabin.
From Los Angeles Times
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.