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PlainSpell

bonk

/bɑŋk/verb, noun

bonk is spelled B-O-N-K: 4 letters and one syllable. It appears about once in every 4 million words in written English, the 57,423rd most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As a verb, bonk means “To hit or strike; to collide with something” (English Wiktionary, September 2026).

How many letters and syllables are in bonk?

Letters4: B-O-N-K
Syllables1 (from its American pronunciation)
In writingabout once in every 4 million words; the 57,423rd most frequent word form
Wrong spellings searchednone measured in search
Rhymes with
Same letters

Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation and the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media); rhymes and same-letter words are computed by PlainSpell from its own word list.

How common is bonk?

Bonk appears about once in every 4 million words in written English, the 57,423rd most frequent word form in the list.

Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).

How do you pronounce bonk?

  • UK /bɒŋk/
  • US /bɑŋk/
  • US /bɔŋk/

Bonk has one syllable (counted from its American pronunciation in the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary).

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: En-us-bonk.ogg, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).

What rhymes with bonk?

8 words on PlainSpell end in the same sounds as bonk from its last stressed vowel (/ɑŋk/):

Spelled with the same letters in another order: knob.

Computed by PlainSpell from the pronunciations in the English Wiktionary (dump of September 2, 2026): a rhyme shares every sound from the last stressed vowel to the end; ordered by written frequency (wordfreq 3.1).

Forms of bonk

  • bonks present, singular, he/she/it, plural
  • bonking participle, present
  • bonked participle, past

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).

What does bonk mean?

The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).

verb

  1. 1

    informalTo hit or strike; to collide with something.

  2. 2

    UKinformalTo have sexual intercourse (with).

  3. 3

    To hit something with the front of the board, especially in midair.

  4. 4

    informalTo experience sudden and severe fatigue in an endurance sports event due to glycogen depletion.

noun

  1. 1

    informalA bump on the head.

  2. 2

    informalAny minor collision or blow.

  3. 3

    UKinformalAn act of sexual intercourse.

  4. 4

    informalA condition of sudden, severe fatigue in an endurance sports event caused by glycogen depletion.

  5. 5

    An animal call resembling "bonk", such as the call of the pobblebonk.

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).

Bonk in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese

LanguageWords
Frenchheurter (to strike or collide), faire l'amour (to have sexual intercourse), bosse (bump on the head), choc, heurt (minor collision), coït (sexual intercourse)
Germanbumsen, ficken (to strike or collide)
Portuguesetransar, coisar (to have sexual intercourse)
Spanishchindono (bump on the head), quedar sin energía, quedarse sin energías, agotarse, fatigarse, experienciar una pájara (to experience sudden and severe fatigue in an…)

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Translations are Wiktionary's, by sense; a linked word has its own PlainSpell page.

Where does bonk come from?

Of imitative origin. Compare English bang, bounce, bump.

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).

What to look up after bonk