Green’s Dictionary of Slang

1. (also wonked out) of a person or object, unsteady, unstable, out of kilter.

[1896		E. Pugh Man of Straw 7: I’d put him in his hat as soon as look at him, and sooner, the wonk-eyed, pig-nosed monkey!].
1921		H. Jenkins Malcolm Sage, Detective n.p.: ‘I found the bloomin’ engines had gone whonky, then –’ ‘Found the engines had gone what?’ enquired Mr. Walters. ‘Whonky, dud, na-poo,’ explained Richards illuminatingly, whilst Mr. Walters gazed at him icily.
1925		Wodehouse Carry on, Jeeves 204: I simply daren’t risk unleashing him on anything at all wonky.
1930		L. Lower Here’s Luck 150: ‘. I thought you had gone a bit wonky in the melon .
1934		E. Waugh Handful of Dust 220: Damn that radio, it’s going wonky again.
1945		K. Amis letter 12 July in Leader (2000) 19: The last ¶ but 1 – ‘I went on ahead’ struck me as a bit wonky.
1959		W. Hall Long and the Short and the Tall Act I: With a wonky set he couldn’t pick up any of the front-line mobs from here.
1961		T. Taylor Baron’s Court All Change (2011) 57: [H]e saw the scene flicker like a television does when it goes wonky.
1968		P. Barnes Ruling Class I xv: His mind may be wonky but there’s nothing wrong with the rest of his anatomy.
1970		A. Sillitoe Start in Life (1979) 119: Apart from my wonky brakes, oil and water made the road as slippery as a frozen lake.
1984		A. Sayle Train to Hell 34: Wonky containers choc-a-bloc with nuclear waste.
1984		P. Corris ‘Heroin Annie’ in Heroin Annie [e-book] I got up slowly trying to look more wonky than I felt.
1997		(con. 1960s) A. Frewin London Blues 285: That wonky heart of his, after years of abuse, has now gone on strike.
2000		Indep. Rev. 29 Jan. 20: Better the wonky walking stick than half-mast tartan trews.
2001		S. King Dreamcatcher 298: There’s an old guy coming, a wonked-out history professor in a dark blue Lincoln Town Car.
2004		T. Winton ‘Big World’ in Turning (2005) 13: Biggie has this big wonky grin going.
2012		J. Fagan Panopticon (2013) 142: He got the wonky-cock disease eventually. Teresa said it was alright, cos mostly he just liked it up the arse anyway. Gross, or what!
2020		A. Parks Bobby March Will Live Forever 84: [A] boxed-up factory reject tea set with wonky flowers on it.
2021		L. McInerney Rules of Revelation 355: Life was full and wonky.

2. (Aus.) mad; thus wonkyite n., a mad person.

1959		A.W. Upfield Bony and the Mouse 76: Plenty of wonkyites down at Dryblowers, but not that bad. Take a ride over that way and look-see for yourself. Characters, all of ’em. No, this feller murderin’ people isn’t that sort of lunatic [AND].
1973		J. Greenway Down among Wild Men 102: One could let one’s tongue slip easily into ‘wonky’ — bush yabber for ‘crazy’ [AND].

3. nervous.

1921		N&Q 12 Ser. IX 504: Wonky. Having lost one’s nerve.
1925		(con. WWI) Fraser & Gibbons Soldier and Sailor Words 309: Wonky: Jumpy, nervous.
2010		K. Richards Life 188: I hadn’t come all the way to Chicago to get shot by some wonky public schoolboy.