dunk on

verb

dunked on; dunking on; dunks on

transitive verb

1

: to make a dunk shot over (an opposing player)

[San Antonio] Spurs great Manu Ginobili … stars in a new social media video sharing the game thoughts that ran through his head as he dunked on Yao Ming, one of the NBA's tallest players ever.

—Madalyn Mendoza

[Malcolm] Brogdon showed the Bucks right away that they got the steal of the draft, as he had an impressive rookie season, even dunking on LeBron James and Kyrie Irving in one game.

—Matt Newton

2

slang : to publicly make fun of (someone or something) especially on social media

Justin Bieber decided he was up for a fresh new hairstyle (or just got sick of people dunking on him) and ditched the dreadlocks.

—Samantha Wilson

… getting dunked on on social media isn't the same as getting canceled (whatever that means). It's more like dropping your tray of food in the lunchroom in middle school and everyone points and laughs at you …

—Jason Aten

[Alex] Walker, a Democrat, is hoping that any attention he draws, whether people celebrate his message or dunk on him, will help transform him into an Internet phenomenon and defeat a Republican firebrand.

—Taylor Lorenz and David Weigel

An inflammatory tweet would be retweeted by supporters, dunked on by critics, and amplified by journalists, before making its way to website homepages, cable news … and newspaper front pages.

—David A. Graham

Examples of dunk on in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

Various memes and posts spread at such a rate, that dunking on how Game Of Thrones concluded became a game in itself, with posters trying to desperately one-up each other: This has had a lasting impact on the show, with some fans believing that the final season ruined it. —Callum Booth, Forbes, 16 Dec. 2024

And Anunoby delivered dunks on back-to-back possessions with less than two minutes remaining before halftime, turning a 60-58 deficit into a 62-60 lead for the Knicks. —Peter Sblendorio, New York Daily News, 6 Dec. 2024

By Sean Keeler The Denver Post BOULDER, Colo. — Running all over the Mountain West is like dunking on the kids’ table at Thanksgiving. —Sean Keeler, Orlando Sentinel, 2 Dec. 2024

In the most recent episode, Sheridan goes three for three in dunking on John, and in turn, Costner. —William Earl, Variety, 25 Nov. 2024

Word History

First Known Use

1980, in the meaning defined at sense 1