dunk
/dʌŋk/verb, noun
dunk is spelled D-U-N-K: 4 letters and one syllable. It appears 3.5 times per million words in written English, the 14,106th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As a verb, dunk means “To submerge briefly in a liquid” (English Wiktionary, September 2026).
How many letters and syllables are in dunk?
| Letters | 4: D-U-N-K |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 1 (from its American pronunciation) |
| In writing | 3.5 times per million words; the 14,106th most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | none measured in search |
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).
How common is dunk?
Dunk appears 3.5 times per million words in written English, the 14,106th 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 dunk?
- /dʌŋk/
Dunk 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: LL-Q1860_(eng)-Vealhurl-dunk.wav, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
Forms of dunk
- dunks present, singular, he/she/it, plural
- dunking participle, present
- dunked participle, past
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does dunk mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
verb
- 1
To submerge briefly in a liquid.
I like to dunk my donut in my apple cider.
- 2
To set down carelessly.
Parents shouldn't just dunk their kids in front of the TV.
- 3
To put the ball directly downward through the hoop while grabbing onto the rim with power.
The center spun quickly and dunked the ball with authority.
- 4
To put down on social media [with on].
noun
- 1
The act or instance of dunking, particularly in basketball.
The point guard threaded a pass with pinpoint precision to the power forward for an easy dunk.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Dunk in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
| Language | Words |
|---|---|
| German | tunken, eintunken |
| Portuguese | molhar , enterrar , enterrada |
| Spanish | chapuzar, capuzar, zapuzar , machacar, hacer un mate, donquear |
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 dunk come from?
From Pennsylvania German dunke, from Middle High German dunken, from Old High German dunkōn (“to dip, submerge, dunk”), from Proto-West Germanic *þunkōn (“to make wet”), possibly from Proto-Germanic *þunkōną, from Proto-Indo-European *teng- (“to moisten, wet”).
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).