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Dictionary

Words, grammatical forms and meanings linked to the ontology.

junker en · NOUN · etymology 1

Pronunciation

  • /ˈjʊŋkə(ɹ)/
  • (Southern-England) audio

Etymology

Borrowed from German Junker, from Middle High German juncherre (“young lord; not yet knighted nobleman”). Compare younker.

Meanings

  1. A young German noble or squire, especially a member of the aristocratic party in Prussia, stereotyped with narrow-minded militaristic and authoritarian attitudes.
    • Professors of philosophy and science carrying high the patriotic banner of Kultur and culture gloried in the system of compulsory, universal, military service, first made in Germany exulted in the degrading, vicious process of training by which the individual is hypnotized into submission to a brutal organization of military junkers, hallowed by the name of state and Fatherland, it was the darkest period in the history of mankind. 1919, Boris Sidis, The Source and Aim of Human Progress:
    • The dice are, however, weighted against them, so long as the present generation of Junkers and officials survives. 1921 October, Maxwell H. H. Macartney, “An Ex-Enemy in Berlin to-Day”, in The Atlantic:

Forms

SpellingFeaturesLabelsSource
junkers Number=Plur lexicographic
Junker alternative lexicographic

Deriveds

junkerdom · junkerish · junkerism

junker en · NOUN · etymology 2

Pronunciation

  • /ˈd͡ʒʌŋkə(ɹ)/
  • (Southern-England) audio

Etymology

From junk + -er (relational noun suffix) or + -er (occupational suffix).

Meanings

  1. (Canada, US, derogatory, informal) A beat-up automobile.
  2. A person with an interest in disused or discarded objects.
    • An ardent junker herself, Mrs. Egge tells how to conduct a fascinating junk safari into the attic or antique and secondhand shops and what to do with the trophies you bring home. 1968, Ruth Stearns Egge, How to Make Something from Nothing:
  3. (slang) Synonym of junkie (“drug addict”).

Forms

SpellingFeaturesLabelsSource
junkers Number=Plur lexicographic

Synonyms

shitcan · shitbucket · gas guzzler · wreck · junkie · rattletrap · shitbox · bucket of bolts · tin Lizzie · shitpot · crock · beater · flivver · hooptie · junker · lemon · shed · crate · jalopy · old banger · clunker · rustbucket · banger · bucket of rust