[fluhng-kee] 
| 1. | a male servant in livery. |
| 2. | an assistant who does menial work. |
| 3. | a toady; yes-man. |
| flun·ky also flun·key (flŭng'kē) n. pl. flun·kies also flun·keys
[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." |
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