Perc or perk?
perc is an adjective meaning “Percutaneous”; perk is a noun meaning “Perquisite”. Use perc as an adjective and perk as a noun (perc is also a noun: “Clipping of perchloroethylene: a common solvent used in…”). In written English (wordfreq, 2021 data) perk is about 5.5 times as common as perc.
What is the difference between perc and perk?
| perc | perk | |
|---|---|---|
| Part of speech | noun, adjective | noun, verb, adjective |
| Meaning | colloquialPercutaneous | informalPerquisite A bonus ability that a player character can acquire; a permanent power-up informalTo make (coffee) in a percolator or a drip coffeemaker |
| Example | a perc test of the soil | Free coffee is one of the perks of the job |
| Forms | none | perks |
| Pronunciation | /pɜːk/ /pɝk/ | /pɝk/ /pɜːk/ |
| In writing | about once in every 4 million words | 1.5 times per million words |
Sources: perc and perk in the English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0); written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
Every current meaning of perc and perk
perc
- 1
Clipping of perchloroethylene: a common solvent used in dry-cleaning
- 2
colloquialPercutaneous
perc trach
- 3
Alternative letter-case form of Perc (“Percocet”)
- 4
Abbreviation of perchloroethylene
- 5
slangClipping of Percocet, especially when used as a recreational drug; a Percocet tablet
- 6
Clipping of percolation
a perc test of the soil
- 7
Abbreviation of percussion
- 8
Alternative form of perk (perquisite)
perk
- 1
informalPerquisite
Free coffee is one of the perks of the job
- 2
informalTo make (coffee) in a percolator or a drip coffeemaker
I’ll perk some coffee
- 3
A percolator, particularly of coffee
- 4
To make trim or smart; to straighten up; to erect; to make a jaunty or saucy display of
- 5
datedTo peer; to look narrowly, sharply, or inquisitively
- 6
A bonus ability that a player character can acquire; a permanent power-up
- 7
informalOf coffee: to be produced by heated water seeping (“percolating”) through coffee grounds
The coffee is perking
- 8
To appear from below or behind something, emerge, pop up, poke out
Source: the English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0); obsolete, archaic, dialect and rare senses left out.
Which is more common, perc or perk?
perc appears about once in every 4 million words; perk 1.5 times per million words.
perc about once in every 4 million wordsperk 1.5 times per million words
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).