1
: an old or badly working piece of machinery
especially
: a dilapidated automobile
2
: someone or something notably unsuccessful
told a joke that was a real clunker
Examples of clunker in a Sentence
My first car was an old clunker that kept breaking down.
That joke was a real clunker.
The director's recent films have all been clunkers.
Recent Examples on the Web
The rest of the starting staff has a 7.23 ERA after Stroman’s clunker.
—
Gary Phillips, New York Daily News, 12 Apr. 2025
Several of them have been, to put it politely, clunkers.
—Elizabeth Kolbert, The New Yorker, 23 Mar. 2025
That’s right around where Dumbo was, jeez: That Tim Burton clunker did $15.2M on its opening day for a near $46M 3-day off a much cheaper production cost than Snow White ($170M versus $270M).
—Anthony D'alessandro, Deadline, 21 Mar. 2025
Focusing only on customer-facing technology is like building a Ferrari on a clunker chassis.
—Savneet Singh, Forbes, 28 Feb. 2025
See All Example Sentences for clunker
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Gary Phillips, New York Daily News, 12 Apr. 2025
Several of them have been, to put it politely, clunkers.
—Elizabeth Kolbert, The New Yorker, 23 Mar. 2025
That’s right around where Dumbo was, jeez: That Tim Burton clunker did $15.2M on its opening day for a near $46M 3-day off a much cheaper production cost than Snow White ($170M versus $270M).
—Anthony D'alessandro, Deadline, 21 Mar. 2025
Focusing only on customer-facing technology is like building a Ferrari on a clunker chassis.
—Savneet Singh, Forbes, 28 Feb. 2025
See All Example Sentences for clunker
Cite this Entry
“Clunker.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/clunker. Accessed 25 Apr. 2025.
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