manky

/ ˈmæŋkɪ /

adjective

1. worthless, rotten, or in bad taste
2. dirty, filthy, or bad

Word History and Origins

Origin of manky¹

via Polari from Italian mancare to be lacking

Example Sentences

"One day I was moving some dried flowers that had started to look a bit manky so I decided the throw them away," Rose-Mary wrote after she started documenting the goings-on in the late nineties.

From BBC

She even makes digs at Sophie's appearance in the song, dissing her contour - "do you want me to lend you a blender?" - and telling her to "sort out your manky Scouse brow".

From BBC

“I was a kid during these times. I was born in 1990. These manky MP3 players were what I had,” says a typically cheerful Nixon, early in the morning from his home in South Australia.

From The Verge

“More than 10% of the weight of the manky pillows will be hundreds of thousands of dust mites and their droppings,” Blakey says.

From The Guardian

And shouldn’t candles stick to just smelling unemotionally pleasant rather than probably a bit manky but in a way that makes you want to cry?

From The Guardian