junky

1 of 2

adjective

junkier; junkiest
informal
: of inferior quality especially due to being worn out or cheaply made : having the character of junk
a junky old car
You have to wander all over the huge, overlit store's crowded aisles to find the stuff you want, and you have to maneuver your junky cart through all these other tired, hurried people with carts …David Foster Wallace
… it's engagingly junky entertainment, with a healthy sense of its own ludicrousness.Owen Gleiberman
It didn't seem right driving to the meetings, so I rode a junky old bike from my garage.David L'Heureux

junky

2 of 2

noun

less common spelling of junkie

1
a
disparaging + offensive : a person who is addicted to narcotics and especially to heroin
b
: a person who gets an unusual amount of pleasure from or has an unusual amount of interest in something
a television news junkie
Adrenaline junkies weren't the only ones who marveled as Austrian daredevil Baumgartner broke the world record for the highest and fastest skydive …Maura Judkis
2
: a junk dealer

Examples of junky in a Sentence

Adjective that broken watch you're wearing is junky a junky coat that is sure to fall apart after one winter
Recent Examples on the Web
Adjective
Otherwise most of your collection is fair game to display, sans a junky corporate logo or a plastic makeup. Camille Freestone, Architectural Digest, 17 Oct. 2024 As a result, the market for rechargeable devices is suffused with junky options, and the differences in quality can be opaque. Ian Bogost, The Atlantic, 31 July 2024 Credit Reynolds for finding chatty sweetness in his masked assassin — and for giving new life to the film series by embracing the intrinsic humor of the franchise's junky failings. Nick Romano, EW.com, 26 July 2024 High quality, independent polls mostly did not predict big Republican gains in the midterm elections, although some junky polls released by Republican-leaning firms did so. David Lauter, Los Angeles Times, 13 July 2024 Just take the entire glob out of the container and press into electronics to pull out junky debris. Anna Kasper, Rolling Stone, 25 June 2024 Paranormal Activity watch on max Pet Sematary Year: 1989 Runtime: 1h 43m Director: Mary Lambert Forget that junky 2019 remake (or the even junkier 2023 prequel) and stick with the first adaptation of the Stephen King novel from the 1980s about a cemetery that brings pets back to life. Brian Tallerico, Vulture, 4 June 2024 The restaurant only has one Formica table in a junky storage area by the drink fountain. Bud Kennedy, Fort Worth Star-Telegram, 3 June 2024 The temperature sensor—embracing the worst of junky smartphone gimmicks One big change to the Pixel 8 Pro this year is the addition of a barely functional temperature sensor. Ron Amadeo, Ars Technica, 11 Oct. 2023

These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'junky.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

Word History

First Known Use

Adjective

1880, in the meaning defined above

Time Traveler
The first known use of junky was in 1880

Dictionary Entries Near junky

Cite this Entry

“Junky.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/junky. Accessed 31 Oct. 2024.

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