Speakur

Word Pronunciation & Dictionary

honky

/hˈɔŋki/

Word Rarity Rare

Frequency: Zipf frequency 2.79 in modern English

Syllables
honky
IPA
/hˈɔŋki/
15
Scrabble Score
5
Letters
2
Syllables
5
Unique Chars

Meaning

noun

A white (Caucasian) person.

Canadian usage; American usage; Derogatory

noun

A factory hand or general unskilled worker.

American usage; Obsolete

Example Sentences

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.

Word Breakdown

Usage

Inflected Forms

honkies (plural) honkey (alternative) honkie (alternative)

Derived Forms

honkiness honkitude honklet honkydom

Phrases

honky tonk

Frequently Paired Words

honky tonk

Synonyms

abelungu ang moh Angrez balanda béké bule cac Caucasian cornstarch crusader cracker cumskin Eurangutan

Rhymes With

donkey wonky honkey zonkey honkie plonky bonky

Questions

How do you pronounce honky?
The recorded pronunciation is /hˈɔŋki/.
What does honky mean?
A white (Caucasian) person.
Where does honky come from?
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.

How to pronounce honky

  1. Open the pronunciation page — Open the Speakur entry for “honky”.
  2. Read the phonetic spelling — Read the IPA spelling (/hˈɔŋki/) so you know which sounds to aim for.
  3. Play the audio — Click Play to hear reference audio for “honky”.
  4. Repeat and practice — Say “honky” aloud, matching stress and vowels until it feels natural.