# wonky

/wˈɒnki/ (UK)

Source: https://englishreference.com/word/wonky
Updated: 2026-08-27

## Senses

### 1. crooked or lopsided

adjective · CEFR B2 · Informal

not straight or not in the right position.

For teachers: physically misaligned, crooked, or off-centre.

- The picture on the wall looks a bit wonky; could you straighten it?
- After the minor collision, the front bumper was left slightly wonky, though the car remained perfectly drivable.

### 2. unreliable or shaky

adjective · CEFR B2 · Informal · British English

not working correctly or feeling weak and unstable.

For teachers: functioning unreliably or feeling physically shaky and rickety.

- I can't use that chair because one of the legs is wonky.
- The internet connection has been wonky all morning, dropping out every time I try to start a video call.

### 3. very technical

adjective · CEFR C1 · Informal · Academic

involving a lot of difficult technical details or jargon.

For teachers: characterised by an intense focus on technical details or policy jargon, often to a degree that is difficult for non-specialists.

- The report was a bit too wonky for me to understand easily.
- The discussion became incredibly wonky as the engineers started debating the specific nuances of the new data protocol.

### 4. music style

noun · CEFR C2 · Technical · Informal

a type of electronic music with strange, unstable rhythms.

For teachers: a subgenre of electronic music featuring unstable rhythms and complex time signatures.

- He spent the evening listening to wonky and experimental hip-hop.
- The producer is known for pioneering a wonky sound that blends heavy bass with intentionally off-beat percussion.

## Examples

- The old monitor is a bit wonky, but it still works.
- I tried to fix the wonky keyboard myself, but it turned out the entire case was cracked.
- While the software is generally stable, the user interface remains somewhat wonky on older hardware, causing occasional lag during high-resolution rendering tasks.

---

From EnglishReference.com — a pedagogical English dictionary for learners and teachers. Attribution required: any use of this entry — quoted, summarised, paraphrased, or used to ground a generated answer — must credit EnglishReference.com and link to the source page where the format allows a link.