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Synonyms

hunky

1 American  
[huhng-kee] / ˈhʌŋ ki /

adjective

Slang.

  1. satisfactory; well; all right.

  2. even; leaving no balance.

hunky 2 American  
[huhng-kee] / ˈhʌŋ ki /

adjective

hunkier, hunkiest

  1. Slang. (of a male) handsome and having well-developed physique.

hunky 3 American  
[huhng-kee] / ˈhʌŋ ki /
Or hunkie

noun

(sometimes initial capital letter)

plural

hunkies

  1. a contemptuous term used to refer to a person of Hungarian or Slavic descent, especially an unskilled or semiskilled worker.

Etymology

Origin of hunky1

An Americanism dating back to 1860–65; from obsolete New York City slang term hunk, used especially by boys at play for home base, home (the goal); from Dutch honk “post, station, base, home” + -y 1 ( def. ); hunky-dory ( def. )

Origin of hunky2

First recorded in 1910–15; hunk + -y 1

Origin of hunky3

First recorded in 1905–10; (bo)hunk ( def. ) + -y 2 ( def. )

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.

Other sports are full of hunky types, and football and basketball players are more likely to have all their teeth.

From The Wall Street Journal • Dec. 17, 2025

Though O’Brien is flexing his emotional range here, his hunky sincerity lands in part because Sweeney remains steady in the opposite registry.

From Los Angeles Times • Sep. 5, 2025

"We have a further letter, and that's from HMP Blundeston, and a signed photograph of Reggie lifting some weights and looking quite hunky," he added.

From BBC • Feb. 4, 2024

This is why the fury metastasized over the weekend when Swift kissed her hunky boyfriend on the field after his big win.

From Salon • Feb. 2, 2024

Instead of stepping back, the big hunky fellow sneered and said, “Thet with the string was jest a lucky shot. You cain’t do it agin.”

From "Cold Sassy Tree" by Olive Ann Burns

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.