flunky

also flun·key

noun pl. flun·kies also flun·keys

1. A person of slavish or unquestioning obedience; a lackey.
2. One who does menial or trivial work; a drudge.
3. A liveried manservant.

Origin:

Origin: Scots

Origin: , perhaps from flanker, an attendant at one's flank

.

Related Forms:

• flunˈky·ism noun

Word History: The word flunky has come into Standard English from Scots, in which the word meant “liveried manservant, footman,” coming at least by the 19th century to be a term of contempt. The word is first recorded and defined in a work about Scots published in 1782. The definition states that a flunky is “literally a sidesman or attendant at your flank,” which gives support to the suggestion that flunky is a derivative and alteration of flanker, “one who stands at a person's flank.”