wonky — English Dictionary

Adjective

1. Lopsided, misaligned or off-centre.

   Synonyms

   awrymisalignedskew-whiff

   Examples

   Who's this gimp with a wonky eye / I don't know but his lips are dry

2. Feeble, shaky or rickety.

   Usage

   • Australia
   • Ireland
   • New-Zealand
   • UK usage

   Synonyms

   rickety

   Examples

   It seemed likely that he would need First Aid when those wonky steps yielded, at length, to the well-known law of gravitation.

3. Suffering from intermittent bugs.

   Usage

   • Informal

   Synonyms

   buggybroken

4. Generally incorrect.

   Usage

   • Informal

   Examples

   “It’s the ‘societal value’ part this looks wonky to me,” Mr. [Lee] McIntyre said in an email to The Times.

Noun

1. A subgenre of electronic music employing unstable rhythms, complex time signatures, and mid-range synths.

   Usage

   • Uncountable

   Examples

   By the late 2000s, dubstep had splintered into numerous factions, from brostep to wonky to the evocative “purple,” […]

Adjective

1. Technically worded, in the style of jargon.

   Examples

   More examples (1)

   Climate change is an issue that might lend itself more easily to thematic framing in the news, due to the often highly technical and wonky language required to explain it.

   McCain's message, while similar in content and equally as valid, is lost in the minutiae of “'high-risk' pools” and wonky jargon.

2. Technical in nature, difficult for non-specialists to understand.

   Examples

   More examples (2)

   During the boom times, Paris Hilton, Snoop Dogg, Reese Witherspoon and Matt Damon all gushed about or invested in crypto projects, bringing a mainstream audience to the wonky world of digital currencies.

   [Senator Todd] Young is a low-key Indiana lawmaker with an enthusiasm for wonky, but important national security issues. He's a protégé of the late Sen. Richard Lugar, a low-key Indiana lawmaker who had an enthusiasm for wonky but important national security issues.

Adjective

1. turned or twisted toward one side

   Synonyms

   askewawrycockeyedlopsidedskew-whiff

   Examples

   his wig was, as the British say, skew-whiff

2. inclined to shake as from weakness or defect

   Synonyms

   ricketyshakywobbly

   Examples

   a rickety table

   a wobbly chair with shaky legs

   More examples (2)

   the ladder felt a little wobbly

   the bridge still stands though one of the arches is wonky