wanker

English

Alternative forms

• w****r, w**ker (Bowdlerisations)
• w-anchor, wanchor, w⚓ (filter-evading Internet slang)

Etymology 1

Etymology tree

English wank

Proto-Indo-European *-yósder.

Proto-Italic *-āzios

Latin -āriusnom.

Latin -āriusbor.

Proto-Germanic *-ārijaz

Proto-West Germanic *-ārī

Old English -ere

Middle English -ere

English -er

English wanker

From wank + -er.

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation, Australia) IPA^(key): /ˈwæŋkə/

  • Audio (UK):

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  • Audio (Australia):

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• (Ireland) IPA^(key): /ˈwæŋkɚ/
• Rhymes: -æŋkə(ɹ)
• Hyphenation: wan‧ker
• Homophone: Huanca (for non-rhotic speakers)

Noun

wanker (plural wankers) (UK, Ireland, Commonwealth, slang, vulgar)

1. (vulgar) Someone who wanks; masturbates.
2. (derogatory) A term of abuse.
   1. An idiot, a stupid person.
   2. An annoying person.
   3. An ineffectual person.
   5. Someone who shows off too much, a poser or poseur; someone who is overly self-satisfied.

      Hyponyms: wanksta, wankster

3. A penis.
   • 2019 April 16, Skye Smith, The Pistoleer - Lyme 1644: Novel Nine of the Series by Skye Smith, Skye Smith, →ISBN:

     He walked closer to the trees and then pulled out his wanker and took a piss. While he was watering a clump of grass he called out calmly to the men in the trees, "We've come in peace to recruit men for our companies of dragoons."

   • For more quotations using this term, see Citations:wanker.
4. (humorous) A very informal term of address used between friends.

Usage notes

• Refers mainly to males. A study by several British broadcasting organizations in 2000 found that wanker was the fourth most offensive word in the UK (after cunt, motherfucker, and fuck).

Synonyms

• (person who wanks): tosser, masturbator, onanist, pickle tickler, fingerer, w-anchor
• (idiot):
  • (Australian) drongo, dropkick, flog, fuckwit, whacker
  • (UK, Ireland) tosspot, tosser, bawbag, knobber, knobhead, dickhead
  • (US) jerk, jerkoff, jagoff

Derived terms

• full kit wanker
• merchant banker (“Rhyming slang often contracted as in He is a right merchant”)
• wankerdom
• wankerish

Translations

person who masturbates

• Afrikaans: draadtrekker, riemrukker
• Arabic: مُمَارِس الْعَادَة السِّرِّيَّة m (mumāris al-ʕadda s-sirriyya)
• Bulgarian: чекиджи́я (bg) m (čekidžíja)
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 尻槍男 / 尻枪男

• Czech: onanista m
• Danish: pikspiller (male), onanist
• Dutch: rukker (nl)
• Finnish: runkkari (fi)
• French: branleur (fr) m
• German: Wichser (de) m
• Greek: μαλάκας (el) m (malákas), αυνάνας m (avnánas)
• Italian: segaiolo (it) m
• Lithuanian: smaukytojas m
• Malay: melancap
• Māori: kaitītoitoi
• Norwegian: runker m
• Polish: koniobijca (pl) m
• Portuguese: punheteiro (pt) m
• Romanian: labagiu (ro) m, lăbar m
• Russian: дро́чер (ru) m (dróčer), дрочи́ла (ru) m (dročíla), онани́ст (ru) m (onaníst)
• Serbo-Croatian:

  Cyrillic: дркаџија m, дркатор m, онаниста m, мастурбатор m

  Latin: drkadžija (sh) m, drkator m, onanista m, masturbator m

• Spanish: pajero (es) m, pajera f, pajillero (es) m, pajillera f, pajizo (es) m, pajerazo (adjective, Peru)
• Turkish: otuz birci
• Welsh: haliwr

idiot

• Bulgarian: идиот (bg) m (idiot)
• Dutch: nietsnut (nl)
• Finnish: runkkari (fi)
• French: con (fr) m (man), conne (fr) f (woman); conard or connard m (man), conarde or connarde f (woman); conasse or connasse f (woman)
• Galician: pallouco m, babeco (gl) m, babiolo (gl) m, lores m, doudo m, parvo (gl) m, paspán (gl) m
• German: Wichser (de) m, Idiot (de) m
• Greek: μαλάκας (el) m (malákas)
• Hebrew: אִידְיוֹט (he) m (idyót)
• Hungarian: köcsög (hu), tetű (hu), gyökér (hu)
• Italian: coglione (it) m
• Malay: bebal (ms)
• Norwegian: dust (no) m, idiot (no) m, (archaic) tølper m
• Polish: idiota (pl) m
• Portuguese: idiota (pt)
• Russian: идио́т (ru) m (idiót), дебил (ru) m (debil), муда́к (ru) m (mudák)
• Spanish: puñetero m, pendejo (es) m, huevón (es) m, gilipollas (es), idiota (es) m or f, mastuerzo (es) m, tonto (es) m, bobo (es) m, bobalicón (es) m, idiota (es) m
• Swedish: idiot (sv) c, pucko (sv) n, tönt (sv) c

someone who shows off too much

• Bulgarian: фукльо m (fukljo), позьор (bg) m (pozjor)
• French: frimeur (fr) m, crâneur (fr) m
• Galician: proán m, farouteiro m, gabolas m, frosteiro m, chufón (gl) m, morgado m, faramalleiro m, borreante m
• German: Angeber (de) m, Macker (de) m, Wichser (de) m
• Greek: επιδειξιμανής (el) m (epideiximanís)
• Russian: позёр (ru) m (pozjór), выпендрёжник (ru) m (vypendrjóžnik) (slang)
• Spanish: fantasma (es) m or f, creído (es) m, jactancioso (es) m, fanfarrón (es) m

Etymology 2

UK 1890s. From stwanker, from stinker. Used at Felsted School, Essex.

Noun

wanker (plural wankers)

1. (obsolete, UK, school slang) A salted and lightly smoked herring or mackerel; a bloater.
   • 1892 October, The Felstedian, page 105:

     My name it is "wanker";
     a leaner or lanker,
     Salter or ranker,
     fish never swam.

   • 1897 June, The Felstedian, page 100:

     He sniffs. "'Eugh, wankers again."

References

• Farmer, John Stephen (1900), The Public School Word-Book‎^[1], London: Hirshfeld Brothers, page 217

Anagrams

• Newark, Warnke