wonky

[wong-kee]

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR wonky ON THESAURUS.COM

adjective, won·ki·er, won·ki·est.

British Slang.

shaky, groggy, or unsteady.
unreliable; not trustworthy.

Slang. stupid; boring; unattractive.

Origin of wonky

1920–25; perhaps variant of dial. wanky, equivalent to wank(le) (Middle English wankel, Old English wancol; see wench) + -y¹; def. 1 probably represents a different word (see wonk)

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Related Words for wonky

unsteady, wobbly, rickety, unstable, unreliable, crooked, awry, precarious, tottering

Examples from the Web for wonky

Contemporary Examples of wonky

Much ink has been spilled over the wonky science and plot contrivances of Interstellar.
‘Interstellar’ Is Wildly Ambitious, Very Flawed, and Absolutely Worth Seeing
Marlow Stern
November 7, 2014
Justin Bieber This wonky first pitch offers further proof that Justin Bieber struggles with the definition of a straight line.
50 Cent and the Worst Celebrity First Pitches
Amy Zimmerman
May 28, 2014
The store became famous for “wonky carrots”—the type often rejected by supermarkets on aesthetic grounds.
Prince Charles's Chickens Killed By Foxes!
Tom Sykes
May 7, 2014
This could all change if Maryland decides to veer left and elect Heather Mizeur, a wonky, pro-pot married lesbian, as governor.
Could a Pro-Pot Lesbian Become the Next Governor of Maryland?
Jim Newell
March 11, 2014
He tends toward the wonky, goes heavy on historical references, and likes to quote folks like Montesquieu.
On CPAC Day 2, the Libertarian Wing Takes Over
Michelle Cottle
March 8, 2014

Historical Examples of wonky

He straightened his back more, making it pop and gave her his devilish grin, the one where his wonky eyebrow went up and down.
Makers
Cory Doctorow

British Dictionary definitions for wonky

wonky

adjective -kier or -kiest British informal

shaky or unsteady

not in correct alignment; askew

liable to break down or develop a fault

Word Origin for wonky

C20: variant of dialect wanky, from Old English wancol

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Word Origin and History for wonky

adj.

"shaky, groggy, unstable," 1919, of unknown origin. Cf. German prefix wankel-, which has a similar sense. Or perhaps from surviving dialectal words based on Old English wancol "shaky, tottering" (see wench).