Read along with the three podcasts, or open the full dictionary entry for Wonky for the definition, Arabic meaning, synonyms and example sentences.
Narrator: Today's word is "Wonky" — adjective, pronounced /ˈwɒŋki/, with the stress on "won".
Narrator: Wonky means not straight, unsteady, or not working properly.
Narrator: In plain English, crooked or a bit broken.
Narrator: It probably comes from dialect wankle, unsteady.
Narrator: A common collocation is "wonky veg", which describes oddly shaped vegetables sold cheaply.
Narrator: It differs from "broken", because wonky still works, just not perfectly.
Narrator: In a second sense, a "policy wonk" is an expert, but that is a different word.
Narrator: Everyday British speech, retail and DIY use the word.
Narrator: So remember: wonky is lopsided or dodgy.
Speaker A: Why is the picture tilting?
Speaker B: The nail's WONKY! Probably from dialect wankle.
Speaker A: Fix it?
Speaker B: With a spirit level.
Speaker A: Example sentences?
Speaker B: "This table leg is wonky", furniture. "Wonky carrots are cheaper", shopping. "The Wi-Fi is wonky today", tech.
Speaker A: Common mistakes?
Speaker B: Wonky is informal, so use uneven or faulty in formal reports.
Speaker A: Close relatives?
Speaker B: Crooked is its cousin, lopsided its twin, and dodgy an alternative — yet wonky keeps its cheerful charm!
Speaker B: Let's use "wonky" in AI prompts — useful for CSS debugging and grocery marketing.
Speaker A: How for CSS?
Speaker B: Layout bugs.
Prompt: Find why this card layout looks wonky on mobile and fix the alignment.
Speaker A: And grocery?
Speaker B: Marketing.
Prompt: Write a fun promotion for a wonky veg box.
Speaker A: Could it help support?
Speaker B: Yes, for Wi-Fi.
Prompt: Write troubleshooting steps for wonky home Wi-Fi.
Speaker A: One more?
Speaker B: Images.
Prompt: Automatically straighten wonky photos before upload.
Wonky — meaning in Arabic & definition More W courses GL Dictionary