noun
punk
PUHNGK
noun
1
A loud, rebellious style of rock music, or the subculture built around it, marked by aggressive guitars and anti-establishment attitude.
"The band played fast, three-chord punk."
2
A young troublemaker or petty criminal.
"The old man chased the punks off his lawn."
adj
1
Worthless, low quality, or thuggish and disreputable.
"He was dismissed as a punk kid with no future."
How to Use Punk
Learner’s notesIn plain EnglishThe rebellious rock genre and subculture, or (as an insult) a worthless troublemaker.
Common pairings
punk rock
punk band
little punk
Word Forms
punker comparative, punked past tense, punks plural, punks singular, punkest superlative
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Etymology
Originally referred to rotten wood used as tinder; the sense broadened to mean anything worthless, then to disreputable people, before being adopted as the name for the 1970s music movement.