Noun

punk (countable and uncountable, plural punks or (etymology 1, noun sense 4.1) punx)Category:English lemmas#PUNKCategory:English nouns#PUNKCategory:English uncountable nouns#PUNKCategory:English countable nouns#PUNKCategory:English countable nouns#PUNKCategory:English nouns with irregular plurals#PUNKCategory:English entries with incorrect language header#PUNKCategory:Pages with entries#PUNKCategory:Pages with 11 entries#PUNK

1. (countableCategory:English countable nouns#PUNK) One who engages in sexual intercourse, particularly:
   1. (obsoleteCategory:English terms with obsolete senses#PUNK) A female prostitute. [1575]

      Synonyms: fornicatrix, lady of the night, wapping mort; see also Thesaurus:prostitute

      • c. 1603–1604 (date written), William Shakespeare, “Measure for Measure”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act V, scene i]:

        My lord, she may be a punk; for many of them are neither maid, widow, nor wife.

        Category:English terms with quotations#PUNK

      • 1662 (indicated as 1663), [Samuel Butler], “[The First Part of Hudibras]”, in Hudibras. The First and Second Parts. […], London: […] John Martyn and Henry Herringman, […], published 1678; republished in A[lfred] R[ayney] Waller, editor, Hudibras: Written in the Time of the Late Wars, Cambridge, Cambridgeshire: University Press, 1905, →OCLC:

        […] And made them fight, like mad or drunk, / For Dame Religion, as for punk...

        Category:English terms with quotations#PUNK

      • 1671 March (first performance), [William] Wycherley, Love in a Wood, or, St James’s Park. A Comedy, […], London: […] J[ohn] M[acock] for H[enry] Herringman, […], published 1672, →OCLC, Act II, page 22:

        Flip [Lady Flippant]. I love, of my life men ſhould deal freely vvith me; there are ſo fevv men vvill deal freely with one— / Sir Sim[on Addlepot]. Are you not a Fireſhip? a Punk, Madam? / Flip. VVell, Sir, I love Raillery. / Sir Sim. Faith and troth I do not railly, I deal freely.

        Category:English terms with quotations#PUNK

      • 1936, Anthony Bertram, Like the Phoenix:

        However, terrible as it may seem to the tall maiden sisters of J.P.'s in Queen Anne houses with walled vegetable gardens, this courtesan, strumpet, harlot, whore, punk, fille de joie, street-walker, this trollop, this trull, this baggage, this hussy, this drab, skit, rig, quean, mopsy, demirep, demimondaine, this wanton, this fornicatress, this doxy, this concubine, this frail sister, this poor Queenie—did actually solicit me, did actually say 'coming home to-night, dearie' and my soul was not blasted enough to call a policeman.

        Category:English terms with quotations#PUNK

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   2. (obsoleteCategory:English terms with obsolete senses#PUNK) A boy or younger man who engages in sexual intercourse by an older man as a (usually passive) homosexual partner. [from 1698]

      Synonyms: catamite, gunsel

      • 1698, Womens Complaint to Venus:

        The Beaus...
        At night make a Punk of him that's first drunk.

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   3. (chiefly USCategory:American English#PUNK, LGBTQCategory:en:LGBTQ#PUNK) A passive or effeminate homosexual man.

      Synonym: bottom

   4. (USCategory:American English#PUNK, LGBTQCategory:en:LGBTQ#PUNK, slangCategory:English slang#PUNK) A boy who accompanies a hobo, especially as used for sex. [from 1893]
      • 1973, Barry Broadfoot, Ten Lost Years, 1929-1939: Memories of Canadians who survived the Depression, page 137:

        They'd pick up youngsters as, well—as their playthings. These kids were called punks.

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   5. (USCategory:American English#PUNK, LGBTQCategory:en:LGBTQ#PUNK, derogatoryCategory:English derogatory terms#PUNK, chiefly African-American VernacularCategory:African-American Vernacular English#PUNK) A male homosexual. [from 1933]

      Synonyms: see Thesaurus:male homosexual

   6. (USCategory:American English#PUNK, LGBTQCategory:en:LGBTQ#PUNK, prison slangCategory:English prison slang#PUNK) A man forced or coerced into a homosexual relationship, especially in prison. [from 1946]

      Synonym: prison bitch

      • 1946, Milton “Mezz” Mezzrow, Bernard Wolfe, “Don’t Cry, Ma”, in Really the Blues, New York, N.Y.: Random House, book 1 (1899–1923: A Nothin’ but a Child), page 15:

        A punk, if you want it in plain English, is a boy with smooth skin who takes the place of a woman in a jailbird's love life.

        Category:English terms with quotations#PUNK

      • 2001, Joseph T. Hallinan, Going Up the River: Travels in a Prison Nation, page 106:

        If he is small and weak, he may decide to become a ‘punk’ and allow himself to be raped by the inmate most likely to protect him.

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      Because he was so weak, Vinny soon became Tony's punk.Category:English terms with usage examples#PUNK

2. (countableCategory:English countable nouns#PUNK, USCategory:American English#PUNK, slangCategory:English slang#PUNK) A worthless person, particularly: [from 1904]

   Synonyms: blatherskite, nobody, puny; see also Thesaurus:worthless person

   • 1933, Ernest Hemingway, Winner Take Nothing, page 94:

     This fellow was just a punk... a nobody.

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   1. (humorousCategory:English humorous terms#PUNK, rareCategory:English terms with rare senses#PUNK) Any person, especially a male comrade. [from 1904]

      Synonyms: dude, fellow, pal; see also Thesaurus:friend

   2. (derogatoryCategory:English derogatory terms#PUNK) A petty criminal, especially a juvenile delinquent. [from 1908]

      Synonyms: troublemaker, hoodlum, hooligan; see also Thesaurus:troublemaker

      • 1908 October 18, New York Times, page 9:

        He said the prisoner called them ‘punk’... He admitted that he shouted ‘punk’ to them.

        Category:English terms with quotations#PUNK

      • 1963, Thomas Pynchon, :w:V., page 145:

        There was nothing so special about the gang, punks are punks.

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      • 1971, Harry Julian Fink et al., Dirty Harry, spoken by Harry Callahan (Clint Eastwood):

        I know what you're thinking. "Did he fire six shots or only five?" Well, to tell you the truth, in all this excitement I've kinda lost track myself. But being as this is a .44 Magnum, the most powerful handgun in the world, and would blow your head clean off, you've got to ask yourself one question: Do I feel lucky? Well, do ya, punk?

        Category:English terms with quotations#PUNK

   3. (derogatoryCategory:English derogatory terms#PUNK) A weak, timid person. [from 1939]

      Synonyms: milquetoast, pansy, sissy; see also Thesaurus:milksop

      • 1950, Hal Ellson, Tomboy, page 12:

        Do you think a little thing like a scratch would bother me? I'm no punk.

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      • 2006, Kali James, Can U Get Away?, page 17:

        Taking him home she hemmed him up soon as they stepped in the door. Now Tony was a bad dude in the streets but when it came to his mama, he was a punk. A few cuss words on her part had him spilling everything.

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   4. Synonym of amateur. [from 1923]
   5. (circus slangCategory:English slang#PUNK) A young, untrained animal or worker. [from 1926]
3. (uncountableCategory:English uncountable nouns#PUNK) A group of associated musical, artistic and social movements emerging out of the counterculture in the 1970s:
   1. (musicCategory:en:Musical genres#PUNK) Ellipsis of punk rock, a genre known for short, loud, energetic songs with electric guitars and strong drums and shocking or political lyricsCategory:English ellipses#PUNK. [1970]
      • 1972 November, L. Bangs, Creem, page 68:

        Who else... would have the nerve to actually begin a song with the line ‘Whatchew gonna do, mama, now that the roast beef's gone...?’ Man, that is true punk; that is so fucked up it's got class up the ass.

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   2. (fashionCategory:en:Fashion#PUNK) The fashion style associated with punk rock, typically involving leather, metal studs and pins, distressed clothing and confrontational slogans.
      • 1999, Lauraine Leblanc, Pretty in Punk: Girls' Gender Resistance in a Boys' Subculture, Rutgers University Press, →ISBN, page 157:

        Thus, punk girls combined elements of female dress (bodysuits, skirts) with punk accessories (bullet belt, emocore shirt) to create a distinctly female punk look that's "as girly" as they get.

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      • 2014 July 15, Ann Brooks, Popular Culture: Global Intercultural Perspectives, Bloomsbury Publishing, →ISBN, page 61:

        Dame Vivienne Westwood is a British fashion designer and businesswoman. Largely responsible for bringing modern punk and new-wave fashions into the mainstream, she epitomises haute couture of the modern era.

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   3. A nonconformist social movement originally associated with punk rock and its fans, combining anarchism and radicalism, usually (but not necessarily) left-wing.
      • 2001 January 1, Andy Furlong, Irena Guidikova, Council of Europe. Directorate of Youth and Sport, Transitions of Youth Citizenship in Europe: Culture, Subculture and Identity, Council of Europe, →ISBN, page 72:

        This emphasis on politics in the personal sphere might be a difference between punk now and punk fifteen years ago.

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      • 2025 December 9, David Vila Diéguez, Spanish Punk: Screaming for Democracy in a Postdictatorial State, PM Press, →ISBN, page 191:

        Despite this, Podemos's beginnings are still illuminating to understand punk's scope of influence adequately.

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   4. (science fictionCategory:en:Science fiction#PUNK, usually in compounds) Any of the -punk genres, typically involving anachronistic technology and its social impact: dieselpunk, solarpunk, steampunk etc.
      • 2022 June 15, ENC1101 Editorial Board, Composition and Grammar: For HCC by HCC, Accomplishing Innovative Press, →ISBN:

        Some of these genres produce unique and intriguing subculture groups, usually referred to as types of "punks": cyberpunk, teslapunk, atompunk, biopunk, etc.

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      • 2022 February 3, Rick Dakan, Ryan G. Van Cleave, Writing Sci-Fi, Fantasy, & Horror For Dummies, John Wiley & Sons, →ISBN, page 196:

        Punk stories look at the current dominant socioeconomic paradigm and don't like what they see. They look at the newest gadget or algorithm and see how it can be misused and abused.

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4. (countableCategory:English countable nouns#PUNK) A follower of any of these movements, including:
   2. Ellipsis of punk rockerCategory:English ellipses#PUNK; a musician known for playing punk rock or a fan of the genre. [1976]

      My girlfriend is a punk and she plays the drums.

      Category:English terms with usage examples#PUNK

      • 1995, Nick Hornby, High Fidelity, London: Victor Gollancz, →ISBN, page 22:

        But I still felt a fraud. I was like all those people who suddenly shaved their heads and said they'd always been punks, they'd been punks before punk was even thought of […]

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   3. A person who designs or dresses in punk fashion style.
   4. A member of the punk social movement; usually anarchist and socially non-conformist although potentially either left-wing or right-wing.
      • 2013, Carole Counihan, Penny Van Esterik, Food and Culture: A Reader, Routledge, →ISBN, page 236:

        In the daily praxis of punk, vegetarianism and veganism are strategies through which many punks combat corporate capitalism, patriarchy, and environmental collapse.

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   5. (science fictionCategory:en:Science fiction#PUNK, usually in compounds) A fan of a -punk genre of fiction, or a person who dresses in a style associated with it.

Adjective

punk (comparative punker, superlative punkest)Category:English lemmas#PUNKCategory:English adjectives#PUNKCategory:English entries with incorrect language header#PUNKCategory:Pages with entries#PUNKCategory:Pages with 11 entries#PUNK

1. (USCategory:American English#PUNK, colloquialCategory:English colloquialisms#PUNK) Worthless, contemptible, particularly [1907]

   Synonyms: deplorable, inglorious; two-bit, valueless; see also Thesaurus:despicable, Thesaurus:worthless

   1. Bad, substandard.

      Synonyms: lousy, mid, subpar; see also Thesaurus:low-quality

      • 1922, Sinclair Lewis, “3”, in Babbitt, page 30:

        Babbitt boomed on: "Pretty punk service the Company giving us on these car-lines. Nonsense to only run the Portland Road cars once every seven minutes. Fellow gets mighty cold on a winter morning, waiting on a street corner with the wind nipping at his ankles."

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   2. Thuggish, criminal.

      Synonyms: goony, larrikin, ruffianish, thuggy

   3. (chiefly African-American VernacularCategory:African-American Vernacular English#PUNK) Cowardly. [1930]

      Synonyms: bitch-ass, gutless, spineless; see also Thesaurus:cowardly

      • 2018, Damon Jones, “Just Remember That Your Punk-Ass President Would Never, Ever, Ever Call LeBron James Dumb to His Face”, in The Root‎, archived from the original on 4 August 2018:

        ... Donald Trump is also a coward. For all of his tough talk and bluster, the president of the United States is a punk ass bitch.

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   4. Poorly, sickly.

      Synonyms: lousy, out of sorts, puny; see also Thesaurus:ill

      • 1922, Sinclair Lewis, “1”, in Babbitt, page 10:

        With the subtleties of dressing ran other complex worries. "I feel kind of punk this morning," he said. "I think I had too much dinner last evening. You oughtn't to serve those heavy banana fritters."

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   5. Inexperienced.

      Synonyms: callow, green, raw; see also Thesaurus:inexperienced

2. Of or concerning punk rock or its associated subculture. [1971]

   You look very punk with your t-shirt, piercing, and chains.Category:English terms with usage examples#PUNK

   • 2017 March 26, Rob Davies, “BrewDog accused of hypocrisy after forcing pub to change name”, in The Guardian‎, →ISSN:

     BrewDog, the craft beer company that prides itself on a “punk” ethos, has been accused of acting like “just another multinational corporate machine” after forcing a family-run pub to change its name or face legal action.

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Verb

punk (third-person singular simple present punks, present participle punking, simple past and past participle punked)Category:English lemmas#PUNKCategory:English verbs#PUNKCategory:English entries with incorrect language header#PUNKCategory:Pages with entries#PUNKCategory:Pages with 11 entries#PUNK

1. (slangCategory:English slang#PUNK) To pimp.

   Synonyms: hustle, prostitute; see also Thesaurus:pimp out

2. (slangCategory:English slang#PUNK, transitiveCategory:English transitive verbs#PUNK) To forcibly perform anal sex upon (an unwilling partner).

   Ricky punked his new cell-mates.Category:English terms with usage examples#PUNK

   • 1934, James T. Farrell, chapter 19, in The Young Manhood of Studs Lonigan:

     "Hell, Haggerty, with that caved-in chest you got, and with your guts pickled in alcohol, and a leg and a half in the grave, the Navy wouldn't even take you for punkin', Barney sourly said.

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   • 2022 April 30, @GisUsIsReal, Twitter:

     If you start to stare at men's asses, to try & punk them in their moments with God; you are an enemy of God! Anyone looking upon a man as though a woman is in danger of judgement! -<><

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4. (slangCategory:English slang#PUNK, transitiveCategory:English transitive verbs#PUNK) To prank.

   I got expelled when I punked the principal.

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   • 2023 September 25, Becky Hughes, quoting Leigh Wade, “New York’s Hottest Steakhouse Was a Fake, Until Saturday Night”, in The New York Times‎, →ISSN:

     “We were laughing because it was like, ‘Do you think we’re being punked?’” said Leigh Wade, an OB-GYN who was there with her husband, Richard Iuorio, an emergency room doctor who’d waited for a reservation since February.

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5. (especially with "out") To give up or concede; to act like a wimp.

   Jimmy was going to help me with the prank, but he punked (out) at the last minute.Category:English terms with usage examples#PUNK

6. (transitiveCategory:English transitive verbs#PUNK, often with "out" or "up") To adapt or embellish in the style of the punk movement.
   • 1992, Dana Stabenow, A Cold Day for Murder, →ISBN, page 60:

     Suzy, a pump young woman with sparkling brown eyes and punked hair tucked behind her ears, said blankly, "What?"

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   • 2011, David Nichols, The Go-Betweens, →ISBN, page 60:

     Like the Apartments, the supports hadn't written many songs of their own. They ran on that old standby, “fun,” in the form of “punked up” versions of pop songs like “It's my Party,” alongside obscure new wave/punk covers such as Lene Lovich's “Cuckoo Clock.”

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   • 2016, Michael Croland, Oy Oy Oy Gevalt! Jews and Punk: Jews and Punk, →ISBN, page 59:

     Their raucous take on the beloved, iconic Israeli folk song allegedly drew the ire of the songwriter, Naomi Shemer, and inspired Yidcore to punk up Jewish culture in myriad ways over the course of the next decade.

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Derived terms

Noun

punk (countable and uncountable, plural punks)Category:English lemmas#PUNKCategory:English nouns#PUNKCategory:English uncountable nouns#PUNKCategory:English countable nouns#PUNKCategory:English countable nouns#PUNKCategory:English entries with incorrect language header#PUNKCategory:Pages with entries#PUNKCategory:Pages with 11 entries#PUNK

2. (uncountableCategory:English uncountable nouns#PUNK) Any material used as tinder for lighting fires, such as agaric, dried wood, or touchwood, but especially wood altered by certain fungi.
   • 1707, John Clayton (botanist), Virginia in Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society of London XLI, page 149:

     As the East-Indians use Moxa, so these burn with Punk, which is the inward Part of the Excrescence or Exuberance of an Oak.

   • 1756, John Bartram, edited by William Darlington, Memorials of John Bartram and Humphry Marshall, published 1849:

     If they attack a house that is pretty well manned, they [Indians in Pennsylvania] creep behind some fence, or hedge, or tree, and shoot red-hot iron slugs, or punk, into the roof, and fire the house […]

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   • 1899, H. B. Cushman, History of the Choctaw, Chickasaw and Natchez Indians, page 271:

     On one occasion a venerable old Indian man, who, in order to light his pipe, was trying to catch a spark upon a piece of punk struck from his flint and steel; ...

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   • 1922, Harry Ignatius Marshall, The Karen People of Burma, page 61:

     The oil is mixed with bits of dry wood or punk and moulded into sticks about a cubit long and an inch in diameter by putting it into joints of small bamboo.

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   • 2001, William W. Johnstone, War of the Mountain Man, page 116:

     He made him a little smoldering pocket of punk to light the fuses and waited.

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3. (countableCategory:English countable nouns#PUNK) A utensil for lighting wicks or fuses (such as those of fireworks) resembling stick incense.
   • 1907, Jack London, The Road‎:

     On the end a coal of fire slowly smouldered. It would last for hours, and my cell-mate called it a "punk."

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   • 1994, Ashland Price, Viking Tempest, page 353:

     Then, without another word, he rose and left the shelter, apparently in order to light the vessel's wick with a punk from the dying campfire.

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   • 2004, Shawn Shiflett, Hidden Place, page 221:

     He raised the cylinder high in the air with his bare hand, used a punk to light the fuse, and KABOOM!

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Related terms

• ciberpunk

Derived terms

Declension

Declension

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Related terms

Declension

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Related terms

Declension

Derived terms

• punkare (“member of the punk subculture”)
• trallpunk