Junky means low-quality, cheap, or poorly made. When something is junky, it looks shoddy, breaks easily, or doesn't work the way it should. A junky toy might fall apart after a few days of play. Junky furniture wobbles and feels flimsy. If you buy a junky backpack, the zippers might jam and the straps might tear before the school year ends.

The word has a dismissive feeling to it. When you call something junky, you're saying it's not worth much and probably won't last. A junky pen runs out of ink quickly or skips when you write. Junky snacks are full of artificial ingredients and empty calories. Some stores sell junky merchandise: cheap items that seem like bargains but turn out to be disappointing.

You might hear someone describe a cluttered room as looking junky when it's filled with broken or useless items. The word can also describe something that seems tacky or in poor taste, like junky decorations that look garish instead of festive. While junky things might be inexpensive, the real problem is that they don't deliver value. They waste your money because they fail to do their job properly or last any reasonable amount of time.