funky

Etymology

It is formed from English funk + -y, from funk in the sense of a strong or bad smell.^{[2][3][4][5][6]} That noun, recorded from the 1620s, is of uncertain origin:^[3][2] the OED suggests an expressive formation and compares stink,^[2] while Etymonline and Merriam-Webster derive it from the northern French dialect verb Picard funquer (“to give off smoke”),^[5][7] from Old French fungier (“to give off smoke”),^[3] from Latin fūmigō (“to smoke”), the source of fumigate.^[3][5][7]

Earliest recorded meaning

Having a strong or offensive smell: before 1680, in a poem by the Earl of Rochester.^[2] Green's Dictionary of Slang quotes 1681, about a lady's funky hose,^[6] while Etymonline and Merriam-Webster date the word from 1784, as "old, musty", of cheese.^[3][5]

Semantic evolution

The musical sense grew from the smelly one.^[2][6] According to the OED, it arose from ragtime songs of the early 20th century, above all the rag known as "Funky Butt" or "Buddy Bolden's Blues", associated with the New Orleans cornet player Buddy Bolden between about 1900 and 1907.^[2][6] Etymonline places the approving jazz sense about 1900, probably from the idea of something earthy, strong and deeply felt.^[3] In the OED it describes African American music as down-to-earth and bluesy from 1935,^[2] and Down Beat defined funky in 1956 as a "low-down blues feeling".^[6] The word spread more widely about 1954, when Time magazine defined it.^[3] In 1967 it came to name a style of popular music with a prominent bass line and a heavily syncopated, danceable rhythm (now funk, a back-formation from funky recorded from 1959),^[2][3][5] and also became a general term of approval: stylish, fashionable, especially in an unconventional way.^[2][3] From 1946 American slang also used it for unpleasant, suspect or strange.^[2] The OED compares the similar development of stanky.^[2] In Norfolk dialect funky was used of crops beaten down by rain.^[8]

Timeline

• c. 1680 – having a strong or offensive smell.^[2]
• 1784 – old, musty, of cheese.^[3][5]
• c. 1900 – the title "Funky Butt", associated with Buddy Bolden.^[6]
• 1935 – of jazz and other African American music: earthy, bluesy.^[2]
• 1946 – unpleasant, suspect, strange (US slang).^[2]
• 1954 – defined in Time magazine.^[3]
• 1967 – of popular music with a heavy bass and syncopated rhythm; stylish, fashionable.^[2]

Meanings

Adjective

1. (informal) Of music: having a strong, syncopated dance rhythm and a prominent bass line, like funk; also earthy and bluesy in style: a funky bass riff.^{[9][10][5][2]}
2. (informal) Stylish or fashionable in an unconventional way: She found a funky little café near the station.^[10][5][2]
3. (chiefly US) Having a strong, unpleasant smell; musty or foul.^[10][5][2]
4. (US slang) Strange, questionable or unpleasant.^[2][6]

Word family

• funkiness
• funkily

Related words

• funk
• stanky

Usage notes

A separate adjective funky, frightened or nervous, comes from funk in the sense of fear and is recorded from 1835;^[2][5][6] it is now rare.^[4]

References

1. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
4. ^ a b Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
5. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
6. ^ a b c d e f g h Green, Jonathon (2010), Green's Dictionary of Slang, London: Chambers; digital ed. 2016–, https://greensdictofslang.com
7. ^ a b The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (online 2024), 5th ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
8. ^ Wright, Joseph, ed. (1898–1905), The English Dialect Dictionary, 6 vols., Oxford: Henry Frowde; via EDD Online 4.0, University of Innsbruck (CC BY 4.0)
9. ^ Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins
10. ^ a b c Soanes, Catherine; Stevenson, Angus, eds. (2004), Concise Oxford English Dictionary, 11th ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press