Difference between "hunk" and "chunk"

Question

Can somebody please explain to me the difference between the words "hunk" and "chunk". From what I understand, a chunk refers to a separate part of something. But as per the Merriam-Webster, a hunk is

a large lump, piece, or portion

, so basically the same as a "chunk". However, both words do not appear in their mutual synonym lists. Are the sentences

He ate a chunk of his chocolate bar.

and

He ate a hunk of his chocolate bar.

synonym? If not, what makes the difference?

Answer 1

chunk is a piece of, as in: He tore a chunk of bread off the loaf.

Similarly, you can say: He tore a hunk of bread off the loaf.

In that sense (a piece of food), they are really the same, though the first is less messy than the second.

• The roast beef was not neatly sliced; someone had ripped chunks off it. There, you could as easily have said hunks.

Also here:

• A chunk or hunk of cement hit him in the head during the construction. [same thing]

For other things, such as text or profits, we would say:

• A chunk of our profits was lost to bad weather.
• "Well, that's a chunk of change, isn't it?" [slang, lot of money]
• Large chunks of text have to be revised.

chunks is often found in cooking and recipes:

• Sangria has chunks of fruit (chopped fruit) floating in it.

With food, especially, but also elsewhere, chunks suggest something that has been prepared or cut or divided up on purpose. "You start with chunks (nicely cut) of cheese and then melt them in a pan." Hunks does not work there.

• The dog stood there with a huge hunk of meat in his mouth. This suggests the dog ripped the meat off a larger cut of meat and it was messy and uneven. Not like: John fed his dog chunks of raw meat he had cut up that morning.

So, where the idea is something unevenly removed from something else, hunks works. Whereas chunks is neater, less messy. with definition.

Also, chunky is an adjective: "I like this ice cream because it's chunky". [has bits of other stuff in it like chocolate or fruit]. "He wasn't fat but he was quite chunky." [strong with flesh on his bones].

hunk= messy, or uneven, or with undefined contours chunk= neater, even, and with defined contours.

Hunk in slang means a handsome man. And hunky can be the adjective.