Green’s Dictionary of Slang

1. (US) a country bumpkin, a peasant, a farmer; cit. 1910 refers to an older, aboriginal man.

1910		Bulletin (Sydney) 25 Aug. 15/1: ‘Vigilans’ need have no fear that the young gin is badly treated. She has to look happy and in good condition to keep the young fellows buzzing round with offerings of provisions for the ancient and hungry hunk who acts as her guardian.
1915		M.G. Hayden ‘Terms Of Disparagement’ in DN IV:iii 199: hunk, a country fellow.

2. a dull, slow, stupid person.

1638		R. Brathwait Barnabees Journal II L2: There the Beares were come to Town-a; / Two rude Hunks, ’tis troth I tell ye.
1882		Harper’s Mag. Sept. 646: You heered me, you ig’nat, you hunk.
1907		C.E. Mulford Bar-20 xi: That’s Aristotle, all hunk.

3. (US) sexual intercourse, thus a sexual partner, usu. a woman.

1933		J.T. Farrell Gas-House McGinty 194: Marge only sleeps with him once a month [...] I’ll bet he never had a decent hunk in his life.
1942		Berrey & Van den Bark Amer. Thes. Sl.
1955		D. Hitchens Sleep with Strangers (1983) [ebook] ‘She was a gorgeous hunk of gal and her husband was beginning to neglect her’.

4. (also hunker) a large man or woman.

1941		Baker Popular Dict. Aus. Sl. 37: Hunk, a large man.
1953		Whit Harrison Army Girl (1962) 53: That good-looking hunk of a man of yours. [Ibid.] 71: That gorgeous hunk of brass!
1961		Mad mag. Oct. 23: I just love that yummy hunk of man.
1968		N. Heard Howard Street 22: Gypsy Pearl went through the prostrate hunk’s pockets.
1981		J. Wambaugh Glitter Dome (1982) 49: The giant homicide detectives were possibly the only team of officers in the L.A.P.D. who still wore their hair in crewcuts [...] The two hunkers blotted out the sun when they entered the squadroom.
1999		Guardian Guide 29 May–4 June 98: The hunk lowered his burly frame into the comfy chair.
2008		Sun. Times (S.Afr.) 27 Jan. 22: The newly married hunk is Survivor host Mark Bayley.

5. (US) a sexually attractive woman.

1946		J. Evans Halo in Blood (1988) 234: He came back to the hot little hunk he used to run around with in the good old days.
1951		Kerouac On the Road (The Orig. Scroll) (2007) 165: She was a fetching hunk.

6. (US) an attractive, rugged, well-built man, poss. somewhat unintelligent [appears to have been coined as a description of the film star Victor Mature, first described as a ‘beautiful hunk of a man’ and a ‘wonderful hunk of a man’ by Sheilah Graham in a syndicated column on 3/4/1941].

1942		Sun (Baltimore) 15 Mar. n.p.: [of Victor Mature] . . .‘a beautiful hunk of a man.’ That phrase has passed into current slang, but it will take him a long time to live it down.
1946		H.A. Smith Rhubarb 41: ‘What a hunk!’ breathed Myra. ‘What a hunka meat!’.
1957		H. Simmons Corner Boy 53: Isn’t Gregory Peck the sweetest hunk of a man?
1959		C. MacInnes Absolute Beginners 23: He was already gloating over the prints [...] of such a glorious big hunk of man.
1969		N. Cohn Awopbop. (1970) 193: He was a virile hunk.
1979		J. Rechy Rushes (1981) 43: A ‘gorgeous hunk’ — magnificently exaggerated beyond any possibility of reality.
1988		M. Atwood Cat’s Eye (1989) 235: That Gregory! What a hunk.
1999		N. Cohn Yes We have No 186: They spotted the hunk across the floor.
1999		P. Temple Black Tide (2012) [ebook] This hunk, this absolute babe, has come into my life.
2000		Guardian Rev. 7 Jan. 14: The testosterone-free ‘hunks’ from Hollyoaks.
2008		T. Dorsey Atomic Lobster 132: That smile of his. Not your typical hunk.
2010		(con. 1973) C. Stella Johnny Porno 130: I actually haven’t met him yet [...] A real hunk, too, is what I was told.
2011		IOL News 5 Dec. 🌐 DA’s gay hunk models himself on Harvey Milk.
2023		(con. 1962) J. Ellroy Enchanters 316: [H]ot-prowl hunk Keith Bashor. He snuffed two women in ’55 and ’56. He burned in ’57.