hun·ky-do·ry

(hŭng′kē-dôr′ē)

adj. Slang

Perfectly satisfactory; fine.

[Probably alteration of hunky, safe, all right, from obsolete hunk, goal, home in a game, from Dutch honk, from Frisian hunk.]

American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright © 2016 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

hunky-dory

(ˌhʌŋkɪˈdɔːrɪ)

adj

informal very satisfactory; fine

[C20: of uncertain origin]

Collins English Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged, 12th Edition 2014 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1994, 1998, 2000, 2003, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2011, 2014

hunk•y-do•ry

(ˈhʌŋ kiˈdɔr i, -ˈdoʊr i)

adj. Informal.

about as well as one could wish or expect; fine.

[1865–70, Amer.; hunky satisfactory, right (appar. hunk “home” in a game, a safe place (< Dutch honk) + -y¹) + dory, of obscure orig.]

ThesaurusAntonymsRelated WordsSynonymsLegend:

Adj.

hunky-dory - being satisfactory or in satisfactory condition; "an all-right movie"; "the passengers were shaken up but are all right"; "is everything all right?"; "everything's fine"; "things are okay"; "dinner and the movies had been fine"; "another minute I'd have been fine"

all right, fine, o.k., ok, okay

colloquialism - a colloquial expression; characteristic of spoken or written communication that seeks to imitate informal speech

satisfactory - giving satisfaction; "satisfactory living conditions"; "his grades were satisfactory"

Translations

hunky-dory

[ˌhʌŋkɪˈdɔːrɪ] ADJ (esp US) → guay
it's all hunky-dory → es guay del Paraguay

Collins Spanish Dictionary - Complete and Unabridged 8th Edition 2005 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1971, 1988 © HarperCollins Publishers 1992, 1993, 1996, 1997, 2000, 2003, 2005

hunky-dory

adj (inf) that’s hunky-dory → das ist in Ordnung

Collins German Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged 7th Edition 2005. © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1980 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1997, 1999, 2004, 2005, 2007

hunky-dory

[ˈhʌŋkɪˈdɔːrɪ] (fam) adj (okay) → soddisfacente; (fine) → magnifico/a, meraviglioso/a
everything's hunky-dory → va tutto bene

Collins Italian Dictionary 1st Edition © HarperCollins Publishers 1995

Mentioned in

References in classic literature

But you just go on lovin' him, and leanin' on his judgement--he's no fool--and you'll be all hunky-dory. I'm scared from goin' wrong, what of Sarah.

View in context

Said to go to bed and get a good sleep and I'd be all hunky-dory in the morning.

View in context

Well, as I was saying, the goose hung high and everything was going hunky-dory, and I was piling up my wages to come north to Nebraska and marry Sarah, when I run on to Vahna--"

View in context

"He could be out for eight weeks, and that's if everything goes 100 per cent hunky-dory. In my mind there is a danger that he could miss some or all of the Ashes if things don't go so well.

Flintoff in danger of missing a part of Ashes series: Gough

Of course, everything should be hunky-dory and above board, or we'd start losing faith in the game, wouldn't we?

t Last words: Time to end Frank exchange of views

"It was one wee misunderstanding and everything is hunky-dory. It's also a sign we are fighting for each other and I would say it's a good sign."

FOOTBALL: Bollan's at peace with Mo

With O'Gorman junior's help, the Emperor Jones filly passed a stalls test a month ago and everything was hunky-dory when Janet won a 10-furlong maiden easing down at Windsor a fortnight ago.

Behind the scenes in Newmarket: PJ so persuasive with Janet

The England skipper leads his tour party aboard the plane for Oz this afternoon promising a ruthless approach and banning "hunky-dory" socialising with the enemy.

STRAUSS: TIME WE WON IT DOWN UNDER

While the former cocktail waitress claimed that she loved dating the former People magazine Sexiest Man Alive, but all wasn't hunky-dory in their romance.

Dating George Clooney 'was stressful' and 'nerve-wracking', says Sarah Larson

Confidential understands that relations between Bolton boss Sam Allardyce and Phil Gartside have not exactly been hunky-dory recently.

Sport Confidential: SAM AND PHIL STAR IN BEBOP AT THE REEBOK

All is not hunky-dory with Jim Furyk's game and that 84 on day three at Pebble Beach is bound to have left scars.

Golf: Hoch can inflict Flesch wound

But all is not hunky-dory, since he's haunted by his past and still trying to find peace.

Difficult to find peace in not-so-soft-porn romp