auntie

noun, verb — 5 senses

auntie

noun

UK, US /ˈæn.ti/ · /ˈɐn.ti/

Etymology From aunt + -ie.

1

Diminutive, Endearing Diminutive of aunt.

2

Africa, Australia, New Zealand Term of familiarity or respect for a middle-aged or elderly woman.

3

Hong Kong Female domestic helper.

4

US, Slang An elderly gay man.

Synonyms
aunt
Derived terms
agony auntie, auntie arm, kopi auntie, summon auntie
Related terms
uncle

auntie

verb

Etymology From aunt + -ie.

1

To be or behave like the aunt of.

  • In the same melodrama, Madame Rotschild, a supporting character plays a similar role by "auntying" all children as a rich and powerful woman who can solve most problems in children's own homes.1994, Maria Guadalupe Serna-Perez, Entrepreneurship, Women's Roles, and the Domestic Cycle:
  • More and more children are being "auntied" by women in the community who feel it is their duty as mothers to care for parentless children.2003, Richard M. Lerner, Handbook of applied developmental science:
2 more examples
  • She had had only one unmitigated success in bending the girl to her will over the many years she'd auntied her: She had peeled the dialect right olf Lina's tongue.2011, Salvatore Scibona, The End, page 72:
  • “I am the best auntie of any auntie that has ever auntied,” she'd say, and in doing so reshape herself into the image her community needed to see.2019, Keturah Kendrick, No Thanks: Black, Female, and Living in the Martyr-Free Zone:

Entry derived from the Wiktionary, under licence CC BY-SA 4.0 — list of authors.