Hank Marvin

9.9

Feeling very hungry and needing food right away

idiom
/hæŋk ˈmɑːrvɪn/

Slang

: muerto de hambre

I'm absolutely Hank Marvin after that long walk.

Examples

Are you feeling Hank Marvin after skipping breakfast?
We finished the game and everyone said they were Hank Marvin.
After missing lunch, I was absolutely Hank Marvin by dinnertime.
He told me he was Hank Marvin and needed food right away.
After missing lunch, I was absolutely Hank Marvin by dinnertime.
He told me he was Hank Marvin and needed food right away.
I'm absolutely Hank Marvin after that long walk.

Synonyms

hungry

vsHank Marvin

257 1.8

Wanting something very much, often success or praise

is stronger slang focused on extreme hunger rather than general desire

starved

vsHank Marvin

38 2.1

A person or animal who is very hungry because they have no food

is informal rhyming slang not a literal condition of lacking food

starvin' Marvin

vsHank Marvin

Slang

1 9.9

A funny name for someone who is very hungry

is a British rhyming slang term rather than a simple nickname

Antonyms

full

67 1.0

Not wanting more food or drink after eating enough

satisfied

12 1.0

Not hungry or thirsty after eating enough

How Hungry

Hank Marvin

Slang

9.9

hungry

∞ 1.0

peckish

6 7.3

Surface Forms

Hank Marvin positive

Morphology

Hank + Marvin

This is Cockney rhyming slang where the celebrity names 'Hank Marvin' rhyme with 'starving'; the individual words are proper names with no semantic relation to hunger. A B1 learner who knows the constituent words would not be able to infer the meaning without cultural and idiomatic knowledge, so the expression is culturally specific and noncompositional.

Etymology

The British slang Hank Marvin comes from a playful rhyming game where people use a name that sounds like another word as a code. Because Hank Marvin rhymes with 'starving', it's used to mean 'very hungry'.