Meanings
adjectiveonkus (comparative more onkus, superlative most onkus)
comparative more onkus · superlative most onkus
- AustraliaNew ZealanddatedslangInferior; unpleasant; unacceptably bad.
The soup was crook. It was onkus. A yellow-bellied platypus couldn′t drink it […]
1981, Herman Charles Bosman, The Collected Works of Herman Charles Bosman, page 101 - New ZealandobsoleterareslangGood; acceptable; okay.
Origin
Unknown. Australian from 1903, New Zealand from 1909. Compare slightly earlier onky.
Full word history & related roots →Cite this entry
APA
onkus. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/onkus
MLA
“onkus.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/onkus. Accessed November 3, 2026.
Chicago
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “onkus,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/onkus.
Source: onkus on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.