Wonky Definition

wŏngkē
wonkier, wonkiest
adjective
wonkier, wonkiest
Shaky, feeble, unreliable, etc.
Webster's New World
Out of alignment; crooked.
American Heritage
Askew, incorrect, etc.
Webster's New World

Of, having to do with, or like a wonk.

Webster's New World
Not functioning properly or normally.
Wonky digestion; a wonky phone connection.
American Heritage

Other Word Forms of Wonky

Adjective

Base Form:
wonky
Comparative:
wonkier
Superlative:
wonkiest

Origin of Wonky

  • From English dialectal wanky, alteration of Middle English wankel (“unstable, shaky"), from Old English wancol (“unstable"), from Proto-Germanic *wankulaz (“swaying, shaky, unstable"), from Proto-Germanic *wankōnÄ… (“to sway, be unsteady"), from Proto-Indo-European *wa(n)k-, *wek-, *wag-, *weg- (“to swing, be unsteady, slant, be crooked"). Cognate with Scots wankle (“wonky"), Dutch wankel (“shaky"), German Wankelmut (“fickleness, inconstancy, vacillation"), Danish vanke (“to wander"). See also wankle.

    From Wiktionary

  • Probably alteration of dialectal wanky alteration of wankle from Middle English wankel from Old English wancol unsteady

    From American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition

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