Standard Lemma guide

mank

adj · name · noun · verb · 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.

  • /ˈmæŋk/ without æ-raising
  • [ˈmæŋk] without æ-raising
  • Southern-England: Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.
  • Canada, US: /ˈmeɪ̯ŋk/
  • Canada, US: [ˈmeɪ̯ŋk] ~ /ˈmɛ̃ŋk/
  • Canada, US: [ˈmɛ̃ŋk]
  • rhymes with -æŋk
  • CMU ARPABET: M AE1 NG K Digits mark lexical stress: 1 primary, 2 secondary, 0 unstressed.

1

adj

Meaning 1

Disgusting, repulsive.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: UK, not-comparable, slang

Examples

  • When he eats, he never closes his mouth. It's so mank.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: manky, ming, minging

Antonyms: none provided

2

adj

Meaning 2

Synonym of manky (“being or having bad weather”).

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: not-comparable, slang

Qualifier: Antarctica

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: manky

Antonyms: none provided

3

name

Meaning 3

A surname.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

4

noun

Meaning 4

Something that is disgusting or manky.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: UK, slang, uncountable

Examples

  • The plumber had to get all the mank out of the drain.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

5

verb

Meaning 5

To mutilate.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: obsolete, transitive

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

History

Etymology

Via Polari, from Italian mancare (“to be lacking”), from Latin mancus (“maimed”). See above.

From Middle English manken, from Old English *mancian, bemancian (“to maim, mutilate”), of obscure origin. Cognate with Middle Low German mank (“lame, defective”), Dutch mank (“lame, defective”), and Middle High German manc (“lack, defect”). Perhaps from Latin mancus (“maimed, crippled, frail, incomplete”), from Proto-Indo-European *mank-, *menk- (“maimed, mutilation, torment”).