Meaning & use
honkey
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Meaning
nouncountableoffensiveslangAmerican
A derogatory slang word for a white person, used mainly in the United States and meant to insult.
Grammar: Countable: one honkey, two honkeys; it is more often spelled honky.
The dictionary marks honkey as an offensive word for a white person.
A character in the old film is called a honkey, and the scene shows how the word is used as an insult.
Teachers explained that honkey is a racial slur and should not be used in class.
Word forms
| plural | honkeys |
|---|
Common combinations
- offensive term
- Honkey is an offensive term and is best avoided.
- racial slur
- The writer discussed honkey as a racial slur in her essay on language.
- derogatory word
- It is a derogatory word that appears mostly in older American writing.
- call someone a honkey
- The report quoted a witness who said the man had called someone a honkey.
Synonyms and how they differ
- whitey
- Whitey is a similar insulting term for a white person, though it is a little more general in tone.
- cracker
- Cracker is a slur with a more regional history, aimed mainly at poor white people in the American South.
Word family
- honky noun
- the more common spelling of the same offensive word
- honkies noun
- plural of honky
Commonly confused: honkey or honky-tonk?
honkey vs honky-tonk
A honky-tonk is a cheap bar with live country music, or a style of piano playing, and is not an insult.
Practice
Which description of the word honkey is most accurate?
Choose one answer.
Honkey is an offensive slang term aimed at white people. It is not polite and does not refer to geese, even though it resembles the word honk.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “honkey”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.