flun·ky also flun·key (flngkē)
n. pl. flun·kies, also flun·keys
► A person of slavish or unquestioning obedience; a lackey.
► One who does menial or trivial work; a drudge.
► A liveried manservant.

[TahlilGaran] American Dictionary ▲

flunky
[Scots, perhaps from flanker, an attendant at one's flank.]

[TahlilGaran] American Dictionary ▲

flunky
flunky·ism n.
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.”

[TahlilGaran] American Dictionary ▲