the.com/hunk
A hunk is a large piece broken off something, or informally, a strong, attractive man.
means A large piece broken or cut off something, or (informally) a muscular, good-looking man.
from From Dutch or Flemish 'honk,' meaning a lump, chunk, or home base, which entered English in the 1800s simply meaning a big piece of something — bread, cheese, wood. The slang leap to 'attractive muscular man' happened in the 20th century, treating a person's build like a solid, sizeable chunk of meat — more butcher's-counter poetry than romance.
- origin
- from dutch honk, meaning a lump
- first use
- originally just meant a thick chunk of bread
- peak era
- 1980s beefcake calendars made it iconic
- linguistic twist
- a compliment that technically means large object