Where does “hunky” come from?

Hunky comes from English hunk, which may derive from Hungarian, though the ultimate origin is uncertain and possibly involves Proto-Indo-European roots related to -kos formations.

hunky (English): Exhibiting strong, masculine beauty; Shaped like...

Definitions

  1. Exhibiting strong, masculine beauty; Shaped like...

Ancestry of “hunky”, step by step

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1English-yAdded to nouns and adjectives to form adjectives...
2Middle English-yDesignates an adjective, in many cases formed by...
3Old English-iġ-y, -ic
4Proto-West Germanic-gForms adjectives from nouns and verbs with a...
5Proto-Germanic-gaz-y
6Proto-Indo-European-ḱos-y, -ic

Words derived from “hunky

Every word from Proto-Indo-European -ḱosEvery word from English -yEvery word from Old English -iġ