What does tunny mean?
Tunny is an informal word for something excellent, splendid, or first-rate. As an adjective, it appears in casual British and American English in expressions such as “a tunny performance,” but many modern speakers consider it dated or quirky rather than current standard usage. In older writing, tunny can also be a noun meaning tuna, especially when referring to the fish or its flesh; this sense is now rare and normally replaced by “tuna.” The two senses reflect the word’s unusual history: it developed alongside the older name for the fish while also functioning as a term of praise. Today, tunny is chiefly memorable because it combines an old-fashioned flavor with a broad, emphatic meaning, making it useful in informal writing when a speaker wants to praise something strongly without sounding excessively formal or modern.
Excellent, splendid, or first-rate.
"She gave a tunny account of the expedition."
Informal and now somewhat old-fashioned; common chiefly in British and American colloquial usage.
A tuna fish; also the flesh of a tuna fish.
"They packed plenty of tunny for the journey."
Rare and chiefly literary or historical; “tuna” is the usual modern term.
Rare and chiefly encountered in older writing; modern usage normally prefers the plural “tunas” for the fish and avoids pluralizing the adjective.
"Several tunnies were hanging from the rafters."
From tuna fish to acomplished slang: tunny has made quite the leap.
Reviewed by Deb Chak, Editor. AI-assisted content curated by RJS Tech Solutions LLP.
Where does tunny come from?
The word has historical connections with “tuna,” the name of the fish, although the precise development of the older English form is not straightforward and its older attestations are irregular. The adjective meaning “excellent” or “first-rate” entered English as informal slang during the 19th century and is generally associated with the same older British and American vocabulary that included “toney.” Its precise derivation is uncertain, so it should not be confidently assigned a single settled origin.
How tunny is actually used
The adjective is informal and chiefly associated with British and American colloquial speech, though it now sounds old-fashioned to many speakers. The noun is rare, formal in style, and largely confined to historical or literary contexts.
Easily confused with tunny
Tunny can be an old name for the fish now generally called tuna; as an adjective, however, tunny means excellent or splendid.