Meanings
hunker1
present singular third person hunkers · participle present hunkering · participle past hunkered · past hunkered
- intransitiveTo apply oneself to a task.
hunker2
Hunker3
Synonyms & antonyms
More synonyms by meaning
Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.
Origin
hunker · verb
- Proto-Indo-European*kuk-néh₂
- Proto-Germanic*hūkan-“to squat”
- Old Norsehuka“to crouch”
- Englishhunker
Originally Scottish. Origin uncertain, but probably of Germanic origin, perhaps *hunk- a nasalised variant of *huk- (compare Scots hoonk, hounk, variants of huk, hok (“to squat, crouch”); Scots hocker (“to crouch down, hunker”)), all of North Germanic origin, from Old Norse huka (“to crouch”), from Proto-Germanic *hūkan- (“to squat”), from *hūkkan-, back-formed from the iterative *huk(k)ōn-, from Proto-Indo-European *kuk-néh₂, from *kewk- (“to curve, bend”) (also the source of high). Probable cognates include Old Norse húka, Dutch huiken, and German hocken.
More words from Old Norse, Proto-Germanic, Proto-Indo-European
Full word history & related roots →Translations
Bulgarian приклякам
- приклякам (prikljakam)To crouch, squat or lie down
Chinese Mandarin 蹲下
- 蹲下 (dūnxià)To crouch, squat or lie down
Czech dřepnout si, sednout si na bobek
- dřepnout siTo crouch, squat or lie down
- sednout si na bobekTo crouch, squat or lie down
Finnish kyykistyä, kyykkiä
- kyykistyäTo crouch, squat or lie down
- kyykkiäTo crouch, squat or lie down
French s'accroupir
- s'accroupirTo crouch, squat or lie down
German hocken, ducken
- hockenTo crouch, squat or lie down
- duckenTo crouch, squat or lie down
- kauernTo crouch, squat or lie down
Japanese しゃがむ
- しゃがむ (shagamu)To crouch, squat or lie down
Polish kucać, kucnąć
- kucaćTo crouch, squat or lie down
- kucnąćTo crouch, squat or lie down
Portuguese ficar de cócoras
- ficar de cócorasTo crouch, squat or lie down
Russian сиде́ть на ко́рточках
- сиде́ть на ко́рточках (sidétʹ na kórtočkax)To crouch, squat or lie down
Spanish encuclillarse, acurrucarse
- encuclillarseTo crouch, squat or lie down
- acurrucarseTo crouch, squat or lie down
Ukrainian присі́сти на ноги, сі́сти навпо́чіпки
- присі́сти на ноги (prysísty na nohy)To crouch, squat or lie down
- сі́сти навпо́чіпки (sísty navpóčipky)To crouch, squat or lie down
Rhymes & wordplay
Rhymes with hunker
All rhymes →Anagrams
Cite this entry
hunker. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/hunker
“hunker.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/hunker. Accessed November 2, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “hunker,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/hunker.
Source: hunker on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.