# punk

Pronunciation: US say "PUNGK" /pʌŋk/; UK

## Noun

1. Short for punk rock: a fast, loud, raw style of rock music that emerged in the mid-1970s, with short songs and often rebellious or political lyrics.
   - Simple: Short for punk rock: loud, lively rock music with short songs and shocking or political words.
   - _Their first album was raw, fast punk recorded in a single weekend._
   - _The club booked punk on Friday nights and jazz on Sundays._
3. Short for punk rocker, a player or fan of punk rock; also a member of the punk movement, or someone who dresses in punk style.
   - Simple: Short for punk rocker. Someone who plays or loves punk music, joins in punk culture, or dresses in punk style.
   - _He has been a punk since high school and still drums in two bands._
   - _Every punk in the city seemed to turn up for the reunion show._
4. A person regarded with contempt as worthless, weak, or cowardly. *(slang, US)*
   - Simple: A rude word for someone thought to be worthless, weak, or afraid.
   - _To the men who ran the neighborhood, he was just some punk nobody would miss._
   - _She told him he was a punk who would never amount to anything._
5. The rebellious youth movement and culture linked to punk rock, including its typical style of dress, such as leather, metal studs, ripped clothes and slogans.
   - Simple: The rebel culture around punk music, including its look of leather, metal studs, and torn clothes.
   - _For her, punk meant questioning every rule her parents and teachers handed down._
   - _Zines and squats were as much a part of punk as the records were._
6. A small-time criminal, especially a teenager or other young person who breaks the law. *(slang, US)*
   - Simple: Someone who commits small crimes, often a young person who keeps getting into trouble.
   - _The shop owner chased the punk who had grabbed cash from the register._
   - _Neighborhood punks had been smashing mailboxes all summer._
13. A slow-burning stick resembling stick incense, used to light wicks or fuses, such as those on fireworks.
   - Simple: A stick that burns slowly and is used to light fuses on fireworks or wicks.
   - _Holding the punk at arm's length, she touched it to the fuse and stepped back._
   - _The fireworks stand sold punks by the bundle, along with lighters and sparklers._
14. Any material used as tinder to start fires, such as agaric, dried wood, or touchwood, but especially wood changed by certain fungi.
   - Simple: Dry stuff used to start a fire, especially wood that a fungus has changed.
   - _Campers learn to look inside fallen logs for dry punk when the kindling is damp._
   - _She struck the flint over a pinch of punk until a thin curl of smoke rose._
17. An amateur, looked down on as unskilled or of little worth. *(slang, US)*
   - Simple: Someone who is not a professional and is not very good at what they do.
18. An offensive term for a gay man, especially one regarded as effeminate or passive. *(US)*
   - Simple: A rude and hurtful word for a gay man.
19. Any person, especially a male friend or comrade. *(slang, US)*
   - Simple: Any person, especially a man who is your friend.
   - _"Get over here, you old punk," he laughed, pulling his brother into a hug._
   - _"Good to see you, you old punk," he laughed, pulling his college roommate into a hug._

## Adjective

2. Relating to punk rock or to the subculture that surrounds it.
   - Simple: Linked to punk music, or to the fans and style that go with it.
   - _The label still runs on a punk ethos of cheap shows and homemade records._
   - _The town's punk scene grew out of a single basement club._
11. Thuggish or criminal in character or behavior. *(colloquial, US)*
   - Simple: Acting like a thug or a criminal.
   - _Since dropping out, he's been running with a punk crowd that has already robbed two gas stations._
   - _The detective had no patience for the punk swagger of the teenagers he picked up._
12. Cowardly: lacking the courage to face danger, trouble, or a challenge. *(colloquial, US)*
   - Simple: Not brave, and too scared to face trouble.
   - _He talked big all week, then pulled a punk move and never showed up for the fight._
   - _He was too punk to say it to her face, so he posted it from a fake account._
15. Bad or substandard; of poor quality. *(colloquial, US)*
   - Simple: Bad, or not as good as it should be.
16. Inexperienced; new to something and not yet practiced at it. *(colloquial, US)*
   - Simple: New at something, without much experience.
20. Unwell or sickly; not in good health. *(colloquial, US)*
   - Simple: A little sick, or not feeling well.
   - _After the long flight he felt punk for a couple of days._
   - _I've felt kind of punk since Tuesday, so I'm skipping the gym until this cold clears up._

## Verb

7. To play a prank or practical joke on someone. *(slang)*
   - Simple: To play a trick on someone as a joke.
   - _The radio hosts love to punk callers with fake contest prizes._
   - _His roommates punked him by filling his car with balloons._
8. To push someone around or beat them so thoroughly, often in a sports contest, that they are left humiliated. *(slang, US)*
   - Simple: To push around or beat someone so badly, often in sports, that they look weak or foolish.
   - _You can't let some rookie punk you on your own court._
   - _The defending champs got punked at home, losing by thirty points to a team nobody expected much from._
9. To lose one's nerve and give up or back down, often in the phrase punk out. *(slang)*
   - Simple: To give up because you are too scared, often said as punk out.
   - _If you punk out now, everyone will know you were never serious._
   - _He was ready to confront his landlord but punked out once the door opened._
10. To adapt or decorate something in the style of the punk movement, often with up or out.
   - Simple: To change or decorate something so it has a punk style.
   - _The band likes to punk up old folk songs with distorted guitars._
   - _The stylist punked out his hair with tall spikes and a streak of green._

## Noun

21. A woman who has sex for money; a female prostitute. *(archaic)*
   - Simple: A woman who is paid to have sex.
   - _The watchman hauled a drunken punk and her customer before the magistrate at dawn._
   - _The young heir squandered his inheritance on dice, drink, and punks._

## Other meanings

- (noun) Any of the science-fiction genres whose names end in -punk, such as steampunk, dieselpunk and solarpunk, typically exploring how a particular technology, often retro or imagined, shapes society.
- (noun) A fan of one of the -punk genres of fiction, such as steampunk, or a person who dresses in the style that goes with it.
- (noun) A boy or younger man kept as a sexual partner, often by force, by an older man, especially in prison or among hobos.
- (noun) In circus slang, a young animal or worker that has not yet been trained.
- (verb) To act as a pimp, finding customers for prostitutes and living off their earnings.
- (verb) To rape someone anally by force, especially in prison.

## Origin

**Meanings 1–12, 15–21** — Of uncertain origin. Possibly from punk (“rotten wood dust used as tinder”, recorded since 1678), extended to anything worthless (by 1869) and then to any undesirable person (by 1908). The milder 21st-century verb sense “to prank” was popularized by the American television show Punk'd (2003).
**Meanings 13–14** — Of unclear origin; first recorded around 1680 in writings about Native American practices. It probably comes from Unami punkw (“dust”), though it may instead be an altered form of spunk (“tinder”); compare funk (“rotten wood”).

Source: DictionaryAI, https://dictionaryai.com/define/punk (written from Wiktionary data, CC BY-SA 4.0: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/).