hunchback

UK:*UK and possibly other pronunciationsUK and possibly other pronunciations/ˈhʌntʃbæk/US:USA pronunciation: IPA and respellingUSA pronunciation: IPA/ˈhʌntʃˌbæk/ ,USA pronunciation: respelling(hunch′bak′)


WordReference Random House Learner's Dictionary of American English © 2025
hunch•back /ˈhʌntʃˌbæk/USA pronunciation   n. [countable]
  1. Pathologya person whose back is humped because of abnormal spinal curvature.
  2. Pathologyhumpback (def. 1).
hunch•backed, adj. 

WordReference Random House Unabridged Dictionary of American English © 2025
hunch•back  (hunch′bak′),USA pronunciation n. 
  1. Pathologya person whose back is humped in a convex position because of abnormal spinal curvature. Cf. kyphosis, kyphoscoliosis.
  2. Pathologyhumpback (def. 1).
  • back formation from hunchbacked 1705–15

Collins Concise English Dictionary © HarperCollins Publishers::
hunchback / ˈhʌntʃˌbæk/
  1. a person having an abnormal convex curvature of the thoracic spine
  2. such a curvature

Also called: humpback
Compare kyphosisEtymology: 18th Century: from earlier hunchbacked, huckbacked humpbacked, influenced by bunchbacked, from bunch (in obsolete sense of hump) + backedˈhunchˌbacked
'hunchback' also found in these entries (note: many are not synonyms or translations):
Hunchback of Notre Dame, The - Quasimodo - crookback - gibbous - humpback - kyphosis

Forum discussions with the word(s) "hunchback" in the title:


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