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Punk
is always a great word to know.
So is lollapalooza. Does it mean:
| a gadget; dingus; thingumbob. |
| an extraordinary or unusual thing, person, or event; an exceptional example or instance. |
Example Sentences
- People might've called it punk rock if that term had been coined by the mid-'60s.
- Madness and others put a punk rock twist on the style.
- Over time, big money and street culture embraced the punk method and have adopted it as their way of life.
Dictionary.com Unabridged
noun
1.
Slang.
a.
something or someone worthless or unimportant.
b.
a young ruffian; hoodlum.
c.
an inexperienced youth.
d.
a young male partner of a homosexual.
e.
an apprentice, especially in the building trades.
f.
Prison Slang. a boy.
3.
a style or movement characterized by the adoption of aggressively unconventional and often bizarre or shocking clothing, hairstyles, makeup, etc., and the defiance of social norms of behavior, usually associated with punk rock musicians and fans.
4.
a punker.
5.
Archaic. a prostitute.
adjective
6.
Informal. poor in quality or condition.
7.
of, pertaining to, or characteristic of punk rock: a punk band.
8.
pertaining to, characteristic of, or adopting punk styles: punk youths; punk hairstyles in various colors.
Origin:
1590–1600; of obscure origin; the sense development is apparently “prostitute” > “catamite” > “hoodlum”; the adj. “poor in quality” (1896) is unclearly derived and perhaps a distinct word
1590–1600; of obscure origin; the sense development is apparently “prostitute” > “catamite” > “hoodlum”; the adj. “poor in quality” (1896) is unclearly derived and perhaps a distinct word
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2012.
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Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2012.
Cite This Source
|
Link To punk
Collins
World English Dictionary
| punk1 (pʌŋk) | |
| —n | |
| 1. | a. a youth movement of the late 1970s, characterized by anti-Establishment slogans and outrageous clothes and hairstyles |
| b. an adherent of punk | |
| c. short for punk rock | |
| d. (as modifier): a punk record | |
| 2. | an inferior, rotten, or worthless person or thing |
| 3. | worthless articles collectively |
| 4. | a petty criminal or hoodlum |
| 5. | obsolete a young male homosexual; catamite |
| 6. | obsolete a prostitute |
| —adj | |
| 7. | inferior, rotten, or worthless |
| [C16: via Polari from Spanish pu(n)ta prostitute,pu(n)to male prostitute] | |
| 'punkish1 | |
| —adj | |
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 10th Edition
2009 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009
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2009 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009
Cite This Source
Etymonline
Word Origin & History
punk
1896, "inferior, bad," also "something worthless," earlier "rotten wood used as tinder" (1687), probably from Delaware (Algonquian) ponk, lit. "dust, powder, ashes;" but Gaelic spong "tinder" also has been suggested (cf. spunk "touchwood, tinder," 1582). Meaning "Chinese incense" is from 1870.
EXPANDpunk
"worthless person" (especially a young hoodlum), 1917, probably from punk kid "criminal's apprentice," underworld slang first attested 1904 (with overtones of "catamite"). Ultimately from punk "prostitute, harlot, strumpet," first recorded 1596, of unknown origin. For sense shift from "harlot" to "homosexual,"
cf. gay. By 1923 used generally for "young boy, inexperienced person" (originally in show business, e.g. punk day, circus slang from 1930, "day when children are admitted free"). The verb meaning "to back out of" is from 1920. The "young criminal" sense is no doubt the inspiration in punk rock first attested 1971 (in a Dave Marsh article in "Creem"), popularized 1976.
"If you looked different, people tried to intimidate you all the time. It was the same kind of crap you had to put up with as a hippie, when people started growing long hair. Only now it was the guys with the long hair yelling at you. You think they would have learned something. I had this extreme parrot red hair and I got hassled so much I carried a sign that said 'FUCK YOU ASSHOLE.' I got so tired of yelling it, I would just hold up the sign." [Bobby Startup, Philadelphia punk DJ, "Philadelphia Weekly," Oct. 10, 2001]
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper
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American Heritage
Cultural Dictionary
punk definition
A type of rock 'n' roll with loud, energetic music and often harsh lyrics criticizing traditional society and culture. It was named after the punks, an anarchistic youth movement that surfaced in Great Britain in the 1970s.
The American Heritage® New Dictionary of Cultural Literacy, Third Edition
Copyright © 2005 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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Copyright © 2005 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
Cite This Source
Slang Dictionary
punk definition
|
Dictionary of American Slang and Colloquial Expressions by Richard A. Spears.Fourth Edition.
Copyright 2007. Published by McGraw Hill.
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Copyright 2007. Published by McGraw Hill.
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Word Dynamo By Dictionary.com
Dictionary.com, LLC. Copyright © 2012. All rights reserved.