Meanings
fanny1
plural fannies
- AustraliaIrelandNew ZealandSouth AfricaUKcountableuncountablevulgarThe female genitalia.First known use 1830s
Her dress was so short you could nearly see her fanny.
Synonyms: bearded clam
- CanadaUScountableinformaluncountableThe buttocks; arguably the most nearly polite of several euphemisms.First known use 1910s
Get off your fanny and get back to work!
1 more example
Children, sit down on your fannies, and eat your lunch.
Synonyms: arse
- UKuncountablevulgarWomen, regarded as sex objects.
This club is full of fanny.
fanny2
plural fannies
- UKslanggovernmentMess kettle or cooking pot.
I put on a big fanny of Ky, that is a straight-sided pot of cocoa for them returning.
2005, Patrick Halliday, Survival, page 24
Fanny3
plural Fannys · alternative Fannie
- A diminutive of the female given name Frances, itself also becoming a given name.
"My name is Frances. Don't call me Fanny!" "Why not?" "Because it's too absurd to be endured! What does the mere sound of Fanny suggest? A flirting dancing creature - plump and fair, and playful and pretty!"
1883, Wilkie Collins, Heart and Science, Chatto and Windus, page 2272 more examples
They listened to the sound of Fanny’s retreating footsteps. ‘Well, well!’ said Marcus. ‘Oh, take no notice Jess. You know what our Frances Maud is like! It’s nothing to cry about!’ To her humiliation Jessamy found there were tears trickling down her cheeks. ‘Always getting worked up about something, Fanny is.’ – page 105: As she did so Fanny put down her book , stood up and stretched her arms, and at once Jessamy noticed a difference. It was the same Fanny but not the Fanny who climbed trees and tore her frock playing in the garden. It was as though a young lady film had settled over her, neatening her unruly hair, which was tied back with a large black bow, and primly composing her small mouth.
1967, Barbara Sleigh, Jessamy, Sevenoaks, Kent: Bloomsbury, published 1993, →ISBN, page 48"I spose you want to be a cattleboy," drawled the multicolored beard whose name was Carrol Day, a curiously feminine name, thought Martin, not yet acquaintanced with the bearded Marions, Fannys and Abbys of Texas who, saddled by their unthinking mothers with dainty names, built savagely masculine frames of character.
2002, Annie Proulx, That Old Ace in the Hole, →ISBN, page 81
Synonyms & antonyms
nounThe female genitalia.
nounThe buttocks; arguably the most nearly polite of several euphemisms.
More synonyms by meaning
nounthe fleshy part of the human body that you sit on
nounexternal female sex organs
Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.
Origin
fanny · noun
19th century. Ultimately from Fanny, pet form of the name Frances. Compare dick, John Thomas, mickey.
Full word history & related roots →fanny · noun
The British naval slang sense derives from Fanny Adams. Tins of mutton introduced as rations were not liked by the sailors and were taken by them to contain the butchered remains of Fanny Adams who had been brutally murdered and dismembered. The tins were re-used for eating from and cooking with.
Full word history & related roots →Translations
Danish Fanny
- Fannyfemale given name
Finnish Fanni
- Fannifemale given name
French Fanny
- Fannyfemale given name
German Fanny
- Fannyfemale given name
Swedish Fanny
- Fannyfemale given name
Rhymes & wordplay
Rhymes with fanny
All rhymes →Cite this entry
fanny. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/fanny
“fanny.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/fanny. Accessed November 3, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “fanny,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/fanny.
Source: fanny on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.