# bloke

> English word · Noun · IPA /bləʊk/ · frequency rank #13,865

## Definitions
1. A fellow, a man; especially an ordinary man, a man on the street.
2. An exemplar of a certain masculine, independent male archetype.
3. A man who behaves in a particularly laddish or overtly heterosexual manner.
4. (A lower deck term for) the captain or executive officer of a warship, especially one regarded as tough on discipline and punishment.
5. An anglophone (English-speaking) man.

## Etymology
Origin unknown; the following borrowings have been hypothesized:
* From a modern Celtic language, such as Irish bloc (“block”) or Scottish Gaelic ploc (“large, stubborn person”, literally “block of wood”), themselves borrowings from English block
* From Hindustani لوک (lok) / लोक (lok, “people, folk”) or Shelta loke (“man”).

## Easily confused with
- **bok** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/bloke-vs-bok)
- **Boe** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/bloke-vs-boe)
- **book** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/bloke-vs-book)
- **blue** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/bloke-vs-blue)
- **blow** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/bloke-vs-blow)
- **bone** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/bloke-vs-bone)
- **bore** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/bloke-vs-bore)
- **boko** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/bloke-vs-boko)
- **Bose** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/bloke-vs-bose)
- **blot** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/bloke-vs-blot)
- **bode** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/bloke-vs-bode)
- **bowe** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/bloke-vs-bowe)
- **books** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/bloke-vs-books)
- **blood** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/bloke-vs-blood)
- **broke** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/bloke-vs-broke)
- **blown** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/bloke-vs-blown)
- **blows** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/bloke-vs-blows)
- **brake** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/bloke-vs-brake)
- **bloom** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/bloke-vs-bloom)
- **burke** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/bloke-vs-burke)

## Common misspellings (7)
`bbloke`, `blkoe`, `blloke`, `bloek`, `blokke`, `bolke`, `lboke`

## Source
Compiled from Wiktionary via kaikki.org (CC BY-SA). Data vintage: 2026-05-06.
Canonical page: https://plainspell.com/en/word/bloke