English Explanatory Dictionary

honky

English dictionary entry

Meanings

noun
  1. A white (Caucasian) person.
  2. A factory hand or general unskilled worker.

Pronunciation

LL-Q1860 (eng)-Vealhurl-honky.wav

Word forms

honky honkies honkey honkie

Etymology

Sense of “factory hand” attested from 1946. Compare hunky, bohunk. Most likely from hunky (“Hungarian, Slav, eastern European; any white person”), an African-American vernacular shortening of Hungarian. Another possible etymon is Wolof xonq (“red, pink”), a term frequently used in African languages to describe white men. As a term of racial abuse it was popularized by the Black Panther Party starting from 1967, who sought a rebuttal to nigger.

Synonyms

abelungu ang moh Angrez balanda béké bule cac Caucasian cornstarch crusader cracker cumskin European farang firangi gringo gora gussuk gweilo haole honky hoogie hoojah ice monkey ivory joganosh kabloona laowai leucoderm mayo mayo monkey mayonnaise face melanin-challenged migaloo mlungu mzungu ofay oyinbo paddy Pakeha paleface pigskin pinky roundeye saltine snow bunny snow roach toubab umlungu vazaha vanilla wadjela white whiteboy white bread white devil whiteface white man whitey Whitoid wigger

Related words

honky tonk

Derived words

honkiness honkitude honklet honkydom
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