wonky

¹

Also won·kish

[wong-kee]

adjective

Slang.

wonkier, wonkiest 

1. (of a person) shaky, groggy, or unsteady.

2. not exactly straight or balanced; off-kilter.

   a wonky chair with an uneven leg.

3. not working properly; faulty; unreliable.

   Something went wonky with my computer.

4. crazy; mad.

   That's just odd logic and wonky reasoning.

wonky

²

won·kish

[wong-kee]

adjective

Slang.

wonkier, wonkiest 

1. stupid; boring; unattractive.

2. relating to, appealing to, or characteristic of a wonk; concerned with minute details of a topic or issue.

   a wonky bureaucrat.

wonky

/ ˈwɒŋkɪ /

adjective

1. shaky or unsteady

2. not in correct alignment; askew

3. liable to break down or develop a fault

Other Word Forms

• wonkiness noun

Word History and Origins

Origin of wonky¹

First recorded in 1915–20; perhaps variant of dialectal wanky, equivalent to wank(le) ( Middle English wankel, Old English wancol; wench ) + -y ¹

Origin of wonky²

First recorded in 1975–80; wonk ( def. ) + -y ¹ ( def. )

Word History and Origins

Origin of wonky¹

C20: variant of dialect wanky, from Old English wancol

Example Sentences

Top players soon pointed out wonky flaws, such as how the measure could inadvertently hurt lower ranked players.

Read more on The Wall Street Journal

When Jun recited an ancient Chinese poem in another instance, viewers criticised what they viewed as her wonky accent.

Read more on BBC

The idea that a politician just has to only talk about wonky policy should have been thoroughly debunked after the last election.

Read more on Salon

It was just all kind of wonky, but it worked.

Read more on Los Angeles Times

In all, Democrats are too cerebral, abstract and “wonky.”

Read more on Salon

Related Words

• rickety 
• unstable 
• unsteady 
• wobbly