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flunky

 - 3 dictionary results

flun⋅ky

[fluhng-kee]
–noun, plural -kies.
1. a male servant in livery.
2. an assistant who does menial work.
3. a toady; yes-man.
Also, flunkey.


Origin:
1775–85; perh. alter. of flanker


flun⋅ky⋅ism, noun
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
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flun·ky also flun·key   (flŭng'kē)   
n.   pl. flun·kies also flun·keys
  1. A person of slavish or unquestioning obedience; a lackey.

  2. One who does menial or trivial work; a drudge.

  3. A liveried manservant.


[Scots, perhaps from flanker, an attendant at one's flank.]
flun'ky·ism n.
Word History: The word flunky has come into Standard English from Scots, in which the word meant "liveried manservant, footman," coming at least by the 19th century to be a term of contempt. The word is first recorded and defined in a work about Scots published in 1782. The definition states that a flunky is "literally a sidesman or attendant at your flank," which gives support to the suggestion that flunky is a derivative and alteration of flanker, "one who stands at a person's flank."
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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Word Origin & History

flunky 
1782, Scottish dial., "footman, liveried servant," of uncertain origin, perhaps a dim. variant of flanker. Sense of "flatterer, toady" first recorded 1855.
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2001 Douglas Harper
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