Word.ws English Dictionary

clanker

Syllables: clan·kerUK/ˈklæŋkə/

More pronunciations (1)Fewer pronunciations

British/ˈklaŋkə/

clanker noun: something that makes a clanking noise.

Noun

clanker (plural clankers)

  1. Something that makes a clanking noise.
    • Hurt him, hang him, Scrape-trencher, Stare-wearer, Wine-ſpiller, Mettle-clanker, Rogue by generation : Why dost heare Will?1611, George Wilkins, The Miseries of Inforst Mariage, London: George Vincent, page 36
    • Poor boys have got to study hard. Then they’ll get rich too—they’ll be doctors, and officers, and officials. I want to be a clanker—with a sword at my side and spurs on my boots—clank, clank!1950 [1899], Maxim Gorky, translated by Margaret Wettlin, Foma Gordeyev, Moscow: Foreign Languages Publishing House, page 54
  2. (Internet, derogatory, humorous) A robot or artificial intelligence.
    • I got laid off 'cause they got them goddamn clankers taking our jobs.
    • Lousy clanker.2005 March 1, John A. Hancock, Ryan Kaufman, Justin Lambros, Michael Stemmie, Star Wars: Republic Commando, spoken by Sev (Jonathan David Cook)
    Synonyms:
    cogsucker, rust monkey, tinskin, wireback
  3. (Internet, broadly) A person who uses automated technology or generative AI.
    • Education is getting overtaken by clankers.
  4. (slang) A fib.
    • Stop telling clankers!
    • Have done with all thought of the fellow and of his clankers concerning his birth.1899, Paul Leicester Ford, Janice Meredith, page 388

clanker meaning in Indonesian

clanker in Indonesian

one that clanks
pelentang, pengelentung

Examples of clanker in a sentence

  • The robots, designed by Kenjiro Okazaki, are cardboard tubes rather than the usual metal clankers.2007 September 9, Jennifer Dunning, “Choreographic Evidence That Laughing Matters”, in New York Times:
  • Already can't stand these fucking clankers2024 October 12, @Banbuds, Twitter, archived from the original on 05 Jun 2025:
  • Could i call a robot a clanker one day or would i have to stop when they gain conciousness^([sic]) like in Detroit become human2024 October 19, @solid_n8, Instagram, archived from the original on 07 Jun 2025:
  • In this future, there is “cross platform” marriage between clankers and humans, humans-only drinking fountains and even more animosity toward robots than today.2025 August 31, Eli Tan, “How ‘Clanker’ Became an Anti-A.I. Rallying Cry”, in The New York Times, New York, N.Y.: The New York Times...

Synonyms of clanker

30 more synonymsFewer synonyms

Forms of clanker

pluralclankers

Origin of clanker

From clank + -er, onomatopoeic. The sense meaning "robot" appears in science fiction at least as early as 1958. Its broader popular use increased on social media beginning around 2024, due to the AI boom. In this wave of usage, it was especially influenced by the word's appearance in the Star Wars franchise, particularly the 2005 video game Star Wars: Republic Commando. In Star Wars, the term was used towards B1-series battle droids, which were humanoid robots that were manufactured for the sole purpose of fighting in armed conflicts. Their nickname of "clanker" stems from the fact that they would frequently make clanking noises any time they moved around due to being cheaply mass-produced.

Words that rhyme with clanker

6 more rhymesFewer rhymes

Questions about clanker

What does clanker mean?
Clanker means something that makes a clanking noise.
What is clanker in Indonesian?
Clanker in Indonesian is pelentang, pengelentung. See Clanker meaning in Indonesian.
How do you use clanker in a sentence?
The robots, designed by Kenjiro Okazaki, are cardboard tubes rather than the usual metal clankers.
What part of speech is clanker?
Clanker is a noun.
How do you pronounce clanker?
Clanker is pronounced /ˈklæŋkə/ (UK).
What is the plural of clanker?
The plural of clanker is clankers.

Words near clanker in the dictionary

  1. clanistics
  2. clank
  3. clanka
  4. clankas
  5. clanked
  6. clanker
  7. clankers
  8. clankety
  9. clankier
  10. clankiest
  11. clankily

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: clanker (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

Last updated:

Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: En-au-clanker.ogg.

Cite this entry: “clanker.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/clanker. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.