Word
honky
US/ˈhɔŋki/
UK/hˈɒŋki/
Definition
n. a very rude and insulting name for a white person.
n. a derogatory and highly offensive ethnic slur directed at white people.
Examples
“The graffiti on the wall read 'Go back to your honky town'.”
“The comedian used the word 'honky' in a joke that was meant to be shocking, but many in the audience found it deeply offensive.”
Examples
simple
“The graffiti on the wall read 'Go back to your honky town'.”
contextual
“The comedian used the word 'honky' in a joke that was meant to be shocking, but many in the audience found it deeply offensive.”
Usage
This term is highly offensive and should not be used in polite or professional conversation.
Teaching tip
Learners should be aware of this word to understand historical or cinematic contexts, but must avoid using it as it is a racial slur.
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.
Etymology adapted from Wiktionary, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
Synonyms
Scan code
englishreference.com/q/honky