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punk

/ˈpʌŋk/noun, adjective, verb

punk is spelled P-U-N-K: 4 letters and one syllable. It appears 16 times per million words in written English, the 5,121st most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As a noun, punk means “A passive or effeminate homosexual man” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). The plural of punk is punks or punx.

How many letters and syllables are in punk?

Letters4: P-U-N-K
Syllables1
In writing16 times per million words; the 5,121st most frequent word form
Wrong spellings searchednone measured in search

Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).

How common is punk?

Punk appears 16 times per million words in written English, the 5,121st 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 punk?

  • /ˈpʌŋk/
  • [ˈpʰʌŋk]

Punk has one syllable.

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: LL-Q1860_(eng)-Vealhurl-punk.wav, En-us-punk.oga, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).

Forms of punk

  • punks plural, present, singular, he/she/it
  • punx plural
  • punker comparative
  • punkest superlative
  • punking participle, present
  • punked participle, past

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

What does punk mean?

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

noun

  1. 1

    archaicA female prostitute.

  2. 2

    obsoleteA boy or younger man who engages in sexual intercourse by an older man as a (usually passive) homosexual partner.

  3. 3

    USA passive or effeminate homosexual man.

  4. 4

    USslangA boy who accompanies a hobo, especially as used for sex.

  5. 5

    USderogatoryA male homosexual.

  6. 6

    USslangA man forced or coerced into a homosexual relationship, especially in prison.

    Because he was so weak, Vinny soon became Tony's punk.

  7. 7

    USslangA worthless person, particularly

  8. 8

    USrareslangAny person, especially a male comrade.

  9. 9

    Any material used as tinder for lighting fires, such as agaric, dried wood, or touchwood, but especially wood altered by certain fungi.

    As the East-Indians use Moxa, so these burn with Punk, which is the inward Part of the Excrescence or Exuberance of an Oak.

  10. 10

    A utensil for lighting wicks or fuses (such as those of fireworks) resembling stick incense.

adjective

  1. 1

    UScolloquialBad, substandard.

  2. 2

    UScolloquialThuggish, criminal.

  3. 3

    UScolloquialCowardly.

  4. 4

    UScolloquialPoorly, sickly.

  5. 5

    UScolloquialInexperienced.

  6. 6

    Of or concerning punk rock or its associated subculture.

    You look very punk with your t-shirt, piercing, and chains.

verb

  1. 1

    slangTo pimp.

  2. 2

    slangTo forcibly perform anal sex upon (an unwilling partner).

    Ricky punked his new cell-mates.

  3. 3

    slangTo prank.

    I got expelled when I punked the principal.

  4. 4

    To give up or concede; to act like a wimp.

    Jimmy was going to help me with the prank, but he punked (out) at the last minute.

  5. 5

    To adapt or embellish in the style of the punk movement.

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

Punk in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese

LanguageWords
Portugueseputinha (receiving partner in a male-male sexual…), imprestável (worthless person), bandidinho, delinquente (petty criminal), punk (short form of punk rock)
Frenchmorpion, petit con (worthless person), vaurien, racaille (petty criminal), punk (short form of punk rock)
GermanPunk (short form of punk rock), Punker (punk rocker)
Spanishpunk (punk rocker)

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 punk come from?

Uncertain. Possibly from punk (“rotten wood dust used as tinder”), attested since 1678, to anything worthless (attested since 1869) and then to any undesirable person (since 1908). The relatively tame 21st century usage of punk (“prank”, verb) was popularized by the American television show Punk'd (2003).

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

What to look up after punk