zonking, adj.

zonking
http://www.oed.com/dictionary/zonking_adj%3Ftab%3Dmeaning_and_use
First published 1986; not fully revised

# zonkingadjective

## Factsheet

### What does the adjective zonking mean?

There is one meaning in OED's entry for the adjective zonking. See ‘Meaning & use’ for definition, usage, and quotation evidence.

#### Entry status

OED is undergoing a continuous programme of revision to modernize and improve definitions. This entry has not yet been fully revised.

### How common is the adjective zonking?

Fewer than 0.01occurrences per million words in modern written English

1950 | 0.00007
1960 | 0.00007
1970 | 0.00007
1980 | 0.00008
1990 | 0.00009
2000 | 0.00009
2010 | 0.0001

### Where does the adjective zonking come from?

Earliest known use

1950s

The earliest known use of the adjective zonking is in the 1950s.

OED's earliest evidence for zonking is from 1958, in the Spectator.

### Nearby entries

1. zone time, n. 1908–
2. Zonian, n. 1910–
3. zonic, adj. 1797–
4. zoning, n. a1821–
5. zonite, n. 1860–
6. zonitic, adj. 1888–
7. zonk, v. 1950–
8. zonk, int. 1949–
9. zonked, adj. 1959–
10. zonkey, n. 1953–
11. zonking, adj.1958–
12. zonky, adj. 1972–
13. zono-, comb. form
14. zonochlorite, n. 1872–
15. zonociliate, adj. 1885–
16. zonoplacental, adj. 1879–
17. zonular, adj. 1835–
18. zonule, n. 1828–
19. zonulet, n. 1648
20. zonure, n. 1883–
21. zoo, n. 1835–

## Meaning & use

slang.

1. 1958–
   See zonk v.
   Frequently as quasi-adv. in zonking great.
   Stressed as ˈzonking.
   1. 1958

      > He would give one a zonking great clip on the ear.

      Spectator 25 July 130/2
   2. 1959

      > She was now technically a ‘star’ owing to her zonking success as Claudia.

      P. Bull, I know Face vi. 100
   3. 1959

      > She..is a zonking great film star.

      P. Bull, I know Face vii. 126
   4. 1973

      > Long Day's Journey..was the first big, zonking part he played after his cancer.

      Daily Telegraph 9 February (Colour Supplement) 36/4
   5. 1976

      > Rather than play these zonking great parts..I will try to find some dazzling little cameo roles.

      Times 21 May 4/7
   colloquial and slang
   1. ferly a1400
      Wonderfully great.
   2. wonderful c1540
      Full of wonder; such as to excite wonder or astonishment; marvellous; sometimes used trivially = surprisingly large, fine, excellent, etc.
   3. stupendious a1549–
      Amazing, extremely impressive; very large or great; extraordinarily good or pleasing; = stupendous, adj.
   4. portentous 1553–
      Prodigious, marvellous; monstrous, extraordinary. Now rare.
   5. stupenduous 1610–
      Amazing, extremely impressive; very large or great; extraordinarily good or pleasing; = stupendous, adj.
   6. stupendous 1618–
      Astonishingly or exceedingly great in size, degree, or amount; tremendous, prodigious, enormous.
   7. stupend 1621–1864
      Stupendous; astonishing, amazing; extraordinarily large or great.
   8. tremendous 1813–
      Hyperbolically, or as a mere intensive: Such as to excite wonder on account of its magnitude or violence; astounding; extraordinarily great…
   9. awesome 1838–
      Originally colloquial (Scottish and U.S.). In weakened use: staggering, prodigious, huge; remarkable… In neutral or negative contexts.
   10. devastating 1889–
       That devastates. Frequently figurative, esp. in trivial or hyperbolical use: very effective or upsetting; astounding, overwhelming, ‘stunning’. Cf…
   11. dizzy 1896–
       Startling, astonishing, vivid. slang.
   12. doozy 1903–
       Remarkable, excellent; also, amazing, incredible.
   13. staggering 1934–
       In transitive senses: Causing to reel or totter; confounding, perplexing; hence in trivial use: amazing, astounding; enormous.
   14. eyewatering 1950–
       figurative (originally U.S.). That inspires a strong emotional response; astonishing, exciting, shocking, etc. Now: esp. (of a figure or amount)…
   15. zonking great 1958–
   16. stonking 1980–
       Excellent, amazing; considerable, powerful.
   View in Historical Thesaurus

## Frequency

zonking typically occurs fewer than 0.01 times per million words in modern written English.

zonking is in frequency band 1, which contains words occurring fewer than 0.001 times per million words in modern written English. More about OED's frequency bands

Frequency data is computed programmatically, and should be regarded as an estimate.

### Frequency of zonking, adj., 1950–2010

* Occurrences per million words in written English

Historical frequency series are derived from Google Books Ngrams (version 2), a data set based on the Google Books corpus of several million books printed in English between 1500 and 2010.

The overall frequency for a given word is calculated by summing frequencies for the main form of the word, any plural or inflected forms, and any major spelling variations.

For sets of homographs (distinct entries that share the same word-form, e.g. mole, n.¹, mole, n.², mole, n.³, etc.), we have estimated the frequency of each homograph entry as a fraction of the total Ngrams frequency for the word-form. This may result in inaccuracies.

Smoothing has been applied to series for lower-frequency words, using a moving-average algorithm. This reduces short-term fluctuations, which may be produced by variability in the content of the Google Books corpus.

Decade | Frequency per million words
--- | ---
1950 | 0.00007
1960 | 0.00007
1970 | 0.00007
1980 | 0.00008
1990 | 0.00009
2000 | 0.00009
2010 | 0.0001

Originally published as part of the entry for zonk, v.

zonk, v. was first published in 1986; not fully revised.