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Words, grammatical forms and meanings linked to the ontology.

clanker en · NOUN

Pronunciation

  • /ˈklæŋkə/ (Australia, Received-Pronunciation)
  • [ˈkʰl̥æŋkə] (Australia, Received-Pronunciation)
  • /ˈkleɪ̯ŋkɚ/ æ-raising
  • [kʰl̥ɛ̃ŋkɚ] æ-raising
  • audio
  • /ˈklaŋkə/ (British, Southern, Standard)
  • [ˈkʰl̥æŋkɚ] without æ-raising
  • /ˈklæŋkɚ/ without æ-raising
  • [kʰl̥eɪ̯ŋkɚ] æ-raising

Etymology

From clank + -er, onomatopoeic. The sense meaning "robot" appears in science fiction at least as early as 1958. Its broader popular use increased on social media beginning around 2024, due to the AI boom. In this wave of usage, it was especially influenced by the word's appearance in the Star Wars franchise, particularly the 2005 video game Star Wars: Republic Commando. In Star Wars, the term was used towards B1-series battle droids, which were humanoid robots that were manufactured for the sole purpose of fighting in armed conflicts. Their nickname of "clanker" stems from the fact that they would frequently make clanking noises any time they moved around due to being cheaply mass-produced.

Meanings

  1. Something that makes a clanking noise.
    • Poor boys have got to study hard. Then they’ll get rich too—they’ll be doctors, and officers, and officials. I want to be a clanker—with a sword at my side and spurs on my boots—clank, clank! 1950 [1899], Maxim Gorky, translated by Margaret Wettlin, Foma Gordeyev, Moscow: Foreign Languages Publishing House, page 54:
    • Hurt him, hang him, Scrape-trencher, Stare-wearer, Wine-ſpiller, Mettle-clanker, Rogue by generation : Why dost heare Will? 1611, George Wilkins, The Miseries of Inforst Mariage, London: George Vincent, page 36:
    • The robots, designed by Kenjiro Okazaki, are cardboard tubes rather than the usual metal clankers. 2007 September 9, Jennifer Dunning, “Choreographic Evidence That Laughing Matters”, in New York Times:
  2. (Internet, derogatory, humorous) A robot or artificial intelligence.
    • Could i call a robot a clanker one day or would i have to stop when they gain conciousness^([sic]) like in Detroit become human 2024 October 19, @solid_n8, Instagram, archived from the original on 07 Jun 2025:
    • I got laid off 'cause they got them goddamn clankers taking our jobs.
    • Okay clankers, suck lasers! 2008 October 3, George Lucas, Steven Melching, “Ambush”, in Star Wars: The Clone Wars, season 1, episode 1, spoken by Jek (Dee Bradley Baker):
    • The most popular genre of clanker content are videos of people acting out a future, usually a few decades away, where A.I.-powered robots are so ubiquitous that they become their own kind of second-class citizen. In this future, there is “cross platform” marriage between clankers and humans, humans-only drinking fountains and even more animosity toward robots than today. 2025 August 31, Eli Tan, “How ‘Clanker’ Became an Anti-A.I. Rallying Cry”, in The New York Times, New York, N.Y.: The New York Times Company, →ISSN, →OCLC:
    • Vapes are a deep state psyop designed to condition us to enjoy sucking robot dicks once AI takes away all our jobs and the only thing left for humanity is to be sex slaves for robots!!!! Real eyes realize clanker lies!!! Don't fall for it!!! Open your eyes!!! 2026 March 30, bozzelliandsonheatingandair, Instagram:
    • Already can't stand these fucking clankers 2024 October 12, @Banbuds, Twitter, archived from the original on 05 Jun 2025:
    • Lousy clanker. 2005 March 1, John A. Hancock, Ryan Kaufman, Justin Lambros, Michael Stemmie, Star Wars: Republic Commando, spoken by Sev (Jonathan David Cook):
  3. (Internet, broadly) A person who uses automated technology or generative AI.
    • Education is getting overtaken by clankers.
  4. (slang) A fib.
    • "What a clanker!" Drusilla protested. "You're hardly setting us a good example, Pa!" 2010, Maggie MacKeever, Our Tabby, →ISBN:
    • His lips quirked. "It's more likely you'll wish to spend the evening debating whether these clankers his lordship is telling us are true, and how they originated." 2020, Anna Lee Huber, A Stroke of Malice, →ISBN, page 41:
    • Stop telling clankers!
    • Have done with all thought of the fellow and of his clankers concerning his birth. 1899, Paul Leicester Ford, Janice Meredith, page 388:

Forms

SpellingFeaturesLabelsSource
clankers Number=Plur lexicographic

Relateds

clanka

Synonyms

bollocks · yanker · story · porker · pile of crap · load of shit · disinformation · lie · flam · fib · tall tale · goof · yed · hoax · bluff · pork pie · mistruth · terminological inexactitude · alternative fact · porky · contradiction · nontruth · mendacity · cram · inveracity · falsification · untruth · misinformation · rubbish · falsehood · cogsucker · wireback · nonsense · whopper · prevarication · inverity · tinskin · load of crap · hummer · load of bull · untruism · anti-fact · jive · canard · wisker · pile of shit · bullshit · rust monkey · fabrication · clanker · cap · chin · red flag · invention · swack-up

Translations (8)

id pelentang (one that clanks) · ru жестя́нка (slur for robots) · id pengelentung (one that clanks) · it ferraglia (slur for robots) · de Clanker (slur for robots) · fr boîte de conserve (slur for robots) · fr tas de ferraille (slur for robots) · fi kolistaja (one that clanks)

wikipedia: Star Wars · wikipedia: Star Wars: Republic Commando · wikipedia: IMDb · wikipedia: NPR