dunk on

verb

dunked on; dunking on; dunks on

transitive verb

1
: to make a dunk shot over (an opposing player)
[San Antonio] Spurs great Manu Ginobili … stars in a new social media video sharing the game thoughts that ran through his head as he dunked on Yao Ming, one of the NBA's tallest players ever.Madalyn Mendoza
[Malcolm] Brogdon showed the Bucks right away that they got the steal of the draft, as he had an impressive rookie season, even dunking on LeBron James and Kyrie Irving in one game.Matt Newton
2
slang : to publicly make fun of (someone or something) especially on social media
Justin Bieber decided he was up for a fresh new hairstyle (or just got sick of people dunking on him) and ditched the dreadlocks.Samantha Wilson
… getting dunked on on social media isn't the same as getting canceled (whatever that means). It's more like dropping your tray of food in the lunchroom in middle school and everyone points and laughs at you …Jason Aten
[Alex] Walker, a Democrat, is hoping that any attention he draws, whether people celebrate his message or dunk on him, will help transform him into an Internet phenomenon and defeat a Republican firebrand.Taylor Lorenz and David Weigel
An inflammatory tweet would be retweeted by supporters, dunked on by critics, and amplified by journalists, before making its way to website homepages, cable news … and newspaper front pages.David A. Graham

Examples of dunk on in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
First, the Bruins had no answer for Michigan’s interior dominance, Vladislav Goldin dunking on one player after another. Houston Mitchell, Los Angeles Times, 8 Jan. 2025 And then out of nowhere, Amen Thompson skied in from the weak side for a tip dunk on the air ball. Jovan Buha, The Athletic, 6 Jan. 2025 Hawks forward Jalen Johnson then threw down a monster dunk on Bucks forward Bobby Portis to give Atlanta their first lead since the first quarter. Jacob Lev, CNN, 15 Dec. 2024 Various memes and posts spread at such a rate, that dunking on how Game Of Thrones concluded became a game in itself, with posters trying to desperately one-up each other: This has had a lasting impact on the show, with some fans believing that the final season ruined it. Callum Booth, Forbes, 16 Dec. 2024 See all Example Sentences for dunk on 

Word History

First Known Use

1980, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Time Traveler
The first known use of dunk on was in 1980

Dictionary Entries Near dunk on

Cite this Entry

“Dunk on.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/dunk%20on. Accessed 18 Jan. 2025.

Last Updated: - Updated example sentences
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