wanker

Etymology

It is formed from English wank + -er.^[2][3][4][5] The verb wank, recorded from 1905, is of uncertain or unknown origin;^[2][6][4] the OED suggests a link with whang, to beat, whose northern and Scottish variant is whank,^[2] and Green's Dictionary of Slang likewise points to the many words for masturbating that mean beating, and to a late 18th-century Scots and dialect use of that form meaning to thrash.^[5] Green notes an unrelated Yorkshire and Norfolk dialect word wanker, a simpleton, of the late 19th century,^[5] which Dalzell says some commentators have taken as the source of the abusive sense.^[7] The OED regards the Felsted School slang wanker, a bloated herring (1892), as unrelated.^[2]

Earliest recorded meaning

A person who masturbates: 1950, in P. Tempest's Lag's Lexicon.^[2] Etymonline places it in the 1940s, as British slang,^[4] Dictionary.com in 1945–50,^[8] and Merriam-Webster Unabridged about 1950.^[6] Green notes that Partridge dated it to the late 19th century without evidence.^[5]

Semantic evolution

The literal sense soon gave way to a general term of abuse for a stupid, incompetent or contemptible person, recorded from 1971 by the OED and Green's Dictionary of Slang;^[2][5] Etymonline and Dalzell date it to 1972.^[4][7] Etymonline compares the parallel development of jerk.^[4] Dalzell notes the earlier spelling whanker.^[7] The word is chiefly British,^[6] but Green quotes it from Australian and American sources too.^[5] A rarer sense, the penis, is recorded from 1987.^[2][7]

Timeline

• 1950 – a person who masturbates.^[2][6]
• 1971 – a stupid, inept or contemptible person; a general term of abuse.^[2][5] Etymonline and Dalzell date this sense to 1972.^[4][7]
• 1987 – the penis.^[2]

Meanings

Noun

1. (chiefly British, vulgar slang) A stupid, incompetent or contemptible person; a general term of abuse.^[9][6][2][5]
2. (vulgar slang) A person who masturbates.^[9][6][2][5]
3. (vulgar slang) The penis.^[2][7]

Related words

• wank

Usage notes

Collins labels the word vulgar, derogatory and slang,^[9] Merriam-Webster Unabridged chiefly British slang and usually vulgar,^[6] and the Shorter Oxford coarse slang.^[3] Dalzell quotes a 1988 comment that the abusive sense had moved so far from its taboo origin that in the 1970s Paul Hogan could show a character called Leo Wanker on national television.^[7]

References

1. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
3. ^ a b Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
4. ^ a b c d e f Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
5. ^ a b c d e f g h i Green, Jonathon (2010), Green's Dictionary of Slang, London: Chambers; digital ed. 2016–, https://greensdictofslang.com
6. ^ a b c d e f g Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
7. ^ a b c d e f g Dalzell, Tom; Victor, Terry, eds. (2013), The New Partridge Dictionary of Slang and Unconventional English, 2nd ed., London: Routledge
8. ^ Dictionary.com Unabridged (2016), based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, New York: Random House
9. ^ a b c Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins