Standard Lemma guide

junky

adj · noun · 5 senses · updated from the 2026-07-25 local source snapshot

Definitions and examples are grouped by meaning. Pronunciation, history, word forms, translations, descendants, synonyms, antonyms, derived terms, and related words appear whenever the source provides them.

Sound

Pronunciation

Each Play button uses your device's default local English voice, or a natural local fallback. The selected voice name appears after playback. This is synthesized speech, not a source recording.

  • /ˈd͡ʒʌŋkiː/
  • [ˈd͡ʒʌŋkhɪi̯]
  • Australia: Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.
  • CMU ARPABET: JH AH1 NG K IY0 Digits mark lexical stress: 1 primary, 2 secondary, 0 unstressed.

1

adj

Meaning 1

Resembling or characteristic of junk; cheap, worthless, or of low quality.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Examples

  • 1970–1975, Lou Sullivan, personal diary, quoted in 2019, Ellis Martin, Zach Ozma (editors), We Both Laughed in Pleasure I took my jewelry box & made a bracelet for J from an old broken necklace & the clasp from a junky pink charm bracelet.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: garbagey, junky, rubbishy, scummy, bastardly, blown, cacky, chaffy, cocking, crapalicious, cruddy, cullionly, draffish, draffy, dreckish, drecky, duffing, floccinaucinihilipilificatious, for the birds, fucking, good-for-naught, good-for-nothing, goodless, ineffectual, invaluable, jabberwocky, mouldy, mucid, naughty, no-account, no good / no-good, nonvaluable, not worth a damn, not worth a dime, not worth a plug nickel, not worth a brass farthing, not worth a cent, not worth a cress, not worth a curse, not worth a Continental, not worth a farthing, not worth hell room, not worth a nickel, not worth a penny, not worth salt, not worth a whistle, nought, of no value, pissass, punk, putid, rubbishly, sixpenny, scabbed, screwy, shand, shit, shitey, shitstained, shitty-ass, sorry-ass, strawlike, suckworthy, tenth-rate, toshy, trinkety, triobolar, tripy, two-bit, unappreciated, unvaluable, vain, valueless, worthless, worth nothing, wutless

Antonyms: none provided

2

adj

Meaning 2

Full of junk.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Examples

  • We really need to clear out the junky basement.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: cluttered, trashy

Antonyms: none provided

3

noun

Meaning 3

Alternative spelling of junkie.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: alt-of, alternative, derogatory, slang

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

4

noun

Meaning 4

someone who is so ardently devoted to something that it resembles an addiction

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

Examples

  • a golf addict
  • a car nut
  • a bodybuilding freak
  • a news junkie

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: addict, nut, freak, junkie

Antonyms: none provided

Broader terms: enthusiast, partisan, partizan

Narrower terms: gym rat

5

noun

Meaning 5

a narcotics addict

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: drug addict, junkie

Antonyms: none provided

Broader terms: addict

Narrower terms: cocaine addict, crack addict, binger, heroin addict, opium addict, opium taker, withdrawer

History

Etymology

Etymology tree English junk Proto-Indo-European *-kos Proto-Germanic *-gaz Proto-West Germanic *-g Old English -iġ Middle English -y English -y English junky From junk + -y (adjectival suffix).

Etymology tree English junk Proto-Germanic *-j-, *-ij- Proto-West Germanic *-i, *-ī Old English -iġ Middle English -y English -y English junky From junk + -y (“person associated”).