zonk
/zɒŋk/
"zonk" is a 4-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“zonk” is uncommon English (outside the top frequency list), classed as a noun. The kind of spelling people second-guess.
- Unranked
- below top-frequency English
- 4
- letters
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - An unfavorable card or token, or undesirable or worthless item used as a prize in a contest or game show (such as Let's Make a Deal).
Corpus desk
Index EN-zonk · zonk · English
zonk · unranked · 0 variants · 0 confusables
- FREQ-UNRANKED Unranked
- LEN-MID 4 letters
- VOW-1 1 vowel
- CONFUS-0 No pairs
- VAR-0 0 variants
- BOOK-THIN "Z" thin
- PHOTO-UNK Peer pending
Read with this headword: Spelling guide for this pattern
Desk codes from Wiktionary headword shape, FrequencyWords rank tier, confusable-pair count, generated misspelling depth, letter-cohort book size, and photo-finish peer. Not a difficulty grade.
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | zonk |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Noun |
| IPA | /zɒŋk/ |
| Letters | 4 |
| Misspellings tracked | 0 |
| Confusable pairs | 0 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Long-tail rank of “zonk” in English
Rare enough to double-check
zonk is uncommon English outside the top frequency list, classed as anoun, transcribed /zɒŋk/. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. 3 senses are on record.
zonk doesn't appear in our generated misspelling index, since its letter pattern doesn't lend itself to common typo substitutions. Our confusable-pair dataset has no match for it, which typically means the spelling is too distinctive to be mistaken for another word.
Etymologically, the entry records: First attested around 1950. Unknown origin, likely imitative, of echoic origin. The correct English form is zonk, spelled Z-O-N-K.
Definition
- 1An unfavorable card or token, or undesirable or worthless item used as a prize in a contest or game show (such as Let's Make a Deal).
- 2The feeling of a drug taking hold.
- 3A cigarette hand-rolled from tobacco and cannabis.
Recorded use
Wiktionary examplesThese source excerpts show how zonk appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.
There will always be two doors that hold zonks, so regardless of whether you initially chose the grand prize or a zonk, Monty will always be able to show you a zonk not chosen.
A live, mane-embellished, SAG-card-carrying lion, I should point out, who was likely being staged for a few minutes off to the side before he would be used as a freaking “Zonk!” on a freaking game show, for crying out loud.
Etymology
First attested around 1950. Unknown origin, likely imitative, of echoic origin.
This word in other languages
Definitions, pronunciation, and etymology for this entry are drawn from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org structured extract (CC BY-SA). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.