wonky

WOTD – 25 April 2009    

English

Etymology

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 *wankōnan (“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.

Pronunciation

• (UK) IPA: /ˈwɔːŋ.kɪ/, X-SAMPA: /"wO:N.kI/
• (US) enPR: wŏngʹkē, IPA: /ˈwɑŋ.ki/, /ˈwɔŋ.ki/, X-SAMPA: /"wAN.ki/, /wON.ki/

• Audio (US)

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ɒŋki

Adjective

wonky (comparative wonkier, superlative wonkiest)

1. (chiefly UK, Australia, New Zealand) Lopsided, misaligned or off-centre.
2. (chiefly UK, Australia, New Zealand) Feeble, shaky or rickety.
3. (computing, especially Usenet) Suffering from intermittent bugs; broken.
4. Generally incorrect.

Synonyms

• (lopsided, misaligned): awry, lonkie, skew-whiff

Derived terms

• wonky hole

Anagrams

• y'know