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Glite Dictionary
🚫 An ethnic insult 💪 Attractive men
hunkies

hunkies

9.9
An offensive name people use to insult immigrants from Central or Eastern Europe
  • noun
  • Slur
translation icon : [insulto despectivo para inmigrantes de Europa central y oriental]
  • Historians have documented the discrimination faced by hunkies in early 20th-century America.

Examples

  • The word hunkies is considered highly offensive and should not be used.

  • The film explores how the term hunkies was used to stereotype immigrant workers.

  • The term hunkies is considered highly offensive.

  • Many people find the word hunkies derogatory.

  • The word hunkies is considered highly offensive and should not be used in polite conversation.

  • Historians have documented the discrimination faced by hunkies during their struggle to find work in the United States.

  • In the film, the director discusses how the term hunkies contributed to the negative stereotypes of Eastern European immigrants.

Surface Forms

hunkies plural

Morphology

hunkies = hunky (opaque) = hunk + y + ies

The form can be parsed as hunk + y + plural ies, but this slur sense is historically specialized and not predictable from those parts.

Etymology

Hunkies was used as an offensive insult for people from Central and Eastern Europe. One likely origin is from Hungarian, which means 'from Hungary', so it began as a way to name immigrants and became a hurtful label.