What it means
Hunky-dory means everything’s all good, ticking over nicely, no stress. It’s got an old-school, slightly cheesy shine to it, which is kind of the whole point. People use it to reassure, to keep things breezy, or to pretend the wheels definitely aren’t wobbling when they very much are.
Usage examples
"How’s the flatshare? Proper hunky-dory now. Dave’s stopped microwaving fish, the boiler’s behaving, and the biscuit tin keeps refilling like magic."
"We patched up the argument over a brew and now everything's hunky-dory again."
"He kept saying it was all hunky-dory right up until the engine made that expensive noise."
"Yeah, the launch is totally hunky-dory if you ignore the smoking printer and the fact nobody's found the charger."
"Mum texted saying everything was hunky-dory, which usually means someone's cried, the dog nicked a sausage, and dinner's an hour late."
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Where it comes from
Hunky-dory has been around in English since the mid-1800s. The exact route into the language is still debated, but the word itself is well attested in American English before it spread wider. Whatever its path in, it settled into meaning everything's fine, sorted, and ticking along nicely, with that slightly old-timey wink still attached.
Other ways to say it
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