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ENGLISH · A WORD WITH POSSIBILITIES

clanker.

Something that makes a clanking noise.

7 characters2 syllables approx.English language

Meaning & usage

noun/ˈklæŋkə/Australia, Received-Pronunciation[ˈkʰl̥æŋkə]Australia, Received-Pronunciation/ˈklaŋkə/British, Southern, Standard/ˈklæŋkɚ/
  1. Something that makes a clanking noise.

  2. A robot or artificial intelligence.

    Internet · derogatory · humorous
    I got laid off 'cause they got them goddamn clankers taking our jobs.
  3. A person who uses automated technology or generative AI.

    Internet · broadly
    Education is getting overtaken by clankers.
  4. A fib.

    slang
    Stop telling clankers!
Where this word comes from

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.

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Definitions, grammatical labels, IPA, etymology and examples: Wiktionary contributors, extracted by Kaikki / Wiktextract. Adapted under CC BY-SA 4.0. Selected fields and authored examples are shown; third-party quotations and audio are omitted. See contributor history.

Last enriched 2026-09-10. Definitions are in English. Romanizations are shown when supplied by the source; syllable estimates are omitted for unsupported scripts.