Hunch
/hʌntʃ/
nounverbB1
Definition
As a noun, a hunch is an idea or feeling you get that something might be true, even if you don't have clear facts or evidence. It is like a guess based on your senses or experience. As a verb, to hunch means to bend your body forward, usually making your back curved, often because you are cold, tired, or thinking.
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See It in Action
Noun: a feeling or idea without proof
- •I have a hunch that it will rain today.
- •She had a hunch something was wrong, so she checked again.
- •His hunch about the answer was correct.
Verb: to bend your back forward
- •He hunched over the table to read the small print.
- •Don’t hunch your shoulders when you walk.
- •She hunched because she was cold outside.
Make It Stick
- ✓Think of "hunch" (noun) like "guess," but it is a feeling inside you, not just a random choice.
- ✓Picture someone leaning forward with a curved back when they are cold or thinking hard (verb).
- ✓It's the feeling when you just "know" something might happen, even if you can't explain why.
- ✓Sounds like "bunch" → Imagine a bunch of thoughts pressing forward inside your mind, pushing you to have a feeling.
- ✓Imagine a person sitting at a desk, hunched over their work, showing their body is bent forward.
- ✓NOT like "fact" (which is sure and proven), a hunch is unsure and based on feeling.
- ✓NOT like "straighten" (verb meaning to make your body straight), to hunch is to bend your body forward.
- ✓NOT like "guess" (which can be random), a hunch feels stronger and comes from your senses or experience.
- ✓NOT like "slouch" (which is a lazy or relaxed posture), hunching is often because of cold, tiredness, or focus.
Try Other Words
- •Feeling: an emotion or sense (Use when focusing on the emotional or instinct side of hunch)
- •Intuition: a natural understanding without reasoning (Use when meaning a deep, almost automatic feeling)
- •Bend: to curve your body (Use when talking about the physical action of hunching)
- •Stoop: to bend down, often with bad posture (Use when describing a body position similar to hunch but often more permanent or bad)
Unboxing
- •Word parts: No clear prefix or suffix; "hunch" is a simple root word.
- •Etymology: Comes from Middle English "hunchen," probably from Old French "huncher," meaning to bend or hump.
- •Historical development: Originally used to describe a bent shape or posture; later developed the meaning of a gut feeling or guess.
- •Modern usage: Used both for the physical action of bending forward and for a feeling or idea without proof.
Reflect & Connect
•When have you trusted a hunch instead of facts? What happened?
•How do you think your body posture (like hunching) affects how people see you or how you feel?
Fill in the blanks
1.I had a hunch ___ something bad would happen, so I stayed home early.
2.When she didn’t know the answer, she made a hunch based ___ her experience.
3.He hunched ___ the computer screen to see better because the text was too small.
4.Unlike a guess, a hunch comes from a ___ feeling inside you.
5.People often hunch their shoulders when they feel ___ or cold.
6.You should try not to hunch ___ when you walk because it can hurt your back.
7.His hunch was right, even though he had no ___ to prove it.