Meaning
6 sensesWorthless, contemptible, particularly
(US, colloquial)Bad, substandard.
(US, colloquial)Thuggish, criminal.
(US, colloquial)Cowardly.
(US, colloquial)Poorly, sickly.
(US, colloquial)Inexperienced.
Of or concerning punk rock or its associated subculture.
You look very punk with your t-shirt, piercing, and chains.
- of very poor quality; flimsy
Examples
78 sentencesOrigin
Uncertain. Possibly from punk (“rotten wood dust used as tinder”), attested since 1678, toUncertain. Possibly from punk (“rotten wood dust used as tinder”), attested since 1678, to anything worthless (attested since 1869) and then to any undesirable person (since 1908). The relatively tame 21st century usage of punk (“prank”, verb) was popularized by the American television show Punk'd (2003).
Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0 · source
Forms
punker, punkestSynonyms
293 synonymsLessons for this word
2 lessons- A2Comparatives — Because it has a comparative form
- A2Superlatives — Because it has a superlative form
Collocations
3 patterns- punk rock
- like punk rock
- like punk
See also
neighbours in the dictionaryDictionary text adapted from Wiktionary (Wiktionary contributors, CC BY-SA 4.0) and Open English WordNet / Princeton WordNet (CC BY 4.0, WordNet License); shared under CC BY-SA 4.0. Example sentences and recordings are credited where they appear.