junk
/d͡ʒʌŋk/noun, verb
junk is spelled J-U-N-K: 4 letters and one syllable. It appears 11 times per million words in written English, the 6,784th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As a noun, junk means “Miscellaneous items of little value, especially discarded or unwanted items” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). The plural of junk is junks.
How many letters and syllables are in junk?
| Letters | 4: J-U-N-K |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 1 (from its American pronunciation) |
| In writing | 11 times per million words; the 6,784th most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | none measured in search |
| Rhymes with |
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 junk?
Junk appears 11 times per million words in written English, the 6,784th 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 junk?
- US /d͡ʒʌŋk/
- Australia /d͡ʒɐŋk/
Junk 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-au-junk.ogg, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
What rhymes with junk?
8 words on PlainSpell end in the same sounds as junk from its last stressed vowel (/ʌŋk/):
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 junk
- junks plural, present, singular, he/she/it
- junking participle, present
- junked participle, past
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does junk mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
noun
- 1
Miscellaneous items of little value, especially discarded or unwanted items.
This shed is full of junk – will you help me sort it out?
- 2
Material or resources of poor quality or low value, especially resources that lack commercial value.
junk food
- 3
Nonsense; gibberish.
The student put down junk for answers just to finish his homework more quickly.
- 4
slangAny narcotic drug, especially heroin.
- 5
slangThe genitalia, especially of a male.
- 6
Salt beef.
My physician has ordered me three pounds of minced salt-junk at every meal .
- 7
Pieces of old cable or cordage, used for making gaskets, mats, swabs, etc., and when picked to pieces, forming oakum for filling the seams of ships.
- 8
datedA fragment of any solid substance; a thick piece; a chunk.
- 9
A Chinese sailing vessel.
verb
- 1
informalTo throw away.
- 2
informalTo find something for very little money (meaning derived from the term junkshop)
(On Facebook, a record collector wrote:) "The newest addition to my Annette Hanshaw collection, I junked this beautiful flawless E-copy within walking distance from my house."
- 3
informalTo consume junk food, mainly at a fast-food restaurant.
Let's just junk some burgers at McDonald's.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Junk in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
| Language | Words |
|---|---|
| German | Kram, Kleinkruscht, Ramsch, Krempel , Stoff , Eier |
| Portuguese | porcaria , junco |
| Spanish | basura, chatarra, cachureo, chunches , junco |
| French | came , jonque |
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 junk come from?
From earlier meaning "old refuse from boats and ships", from Middle English junk, jounke, jonk, joynk (“an old cable or rope”, nautical term), sometimes cut into bits and used as caulking; of uncertain origin; perhaps related to join, joint, juncture. Often compared to Middle English junk, jonk, jonke, junck (“a rush; basket made of rushes”), from Old French jonc, from Latin iuncus (“rush, reed”); however, the Oxford English Dictionary finds "no evidence of connexion".
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).