punk

punk — noun

1. a youth culture that started in the 1970s, whose members express anger toward au

1.nounB2
Definition

a youth culture that started in the 1970s, whose members express anger toward authority through aggressive music, unusual hairstyles, and deliberately shocking clothes

Example

Lucas found a book about the punk movement that changed London in the late 1970s.

collocation: punk movement

The punk subculture let young people express anger about politics and unemployment.

uncountable: the punk subculture

Common collocations
  • punk movement
  • punk scene
  • punk subculture
  • punk culture
Synonyms

Usage Note

This sense refers to the historical cultural movement, not to individual people. Distinguish from sense 2 (FOLLOWER OF PUNK), which describes a person who takes part in that culture.

Common Mistakes

Punk was just music, not a way of life.
Punk was both a music style and a way of life for many young people.
The subculture included fashion, attitude, and politics, not only music.

2. a person who follows punk culture, wearing its typical clothes such as leather j

2.nounB1
Definition

a person who follows punk culture, wearing its typical clothes such as leather jackets and torn denim, and listening to punk music

Example

Sirin looked like a punk with her leather jacket, heavy boots, and bright pink hair.

A group of punks waited outside the concert hall, chatting and sharing cigarettes.

countable: a punk / punks

Common collocations
  • became a punk
  • a real punk
  • old punks
Synonyms
  • punk rocker

    emphasises the person's connection to the music rather than the fashion

  • rebel

    a more general term for someone who rejects authority

Usage Note

Can carry a mildly disapproving tone if used by someone outside the punk community. The plural form 'punks' is common.

Common Mistakes

The punk subculture started in the 1970s' (when referring to a person).
Sven is a punk who loves the Ramones.
Use sense 1 (YOUTH MOVEMENT) for the culture itself and sense 2 for a person.

3. a fast, loud rock style with simple chord patterns and direct, sometimes angry w

3.nounB1
Definition

a fast, loud rock style with simple chord patterns and direct, sometimes angry words, first widely played by young musicians around 1977

Example

Sade prefers punk to classical music because she loves fast drums and loud guitars.

The band played punk at full volume and the whole crowd started jumping and shouting.

uncountable: play punk

Common collocations
  • punk band
  • punk rock
  • punk song
  • play punk
  • listen to punk
Synonyms
  • punk rock

    slightly more specific; emphasises the rock-music roots

  • hardcore punk

    a faster, more aggressive subgenre that emerged in the early 1980s

Usage Note

Uncountable noun in this sense. You can say 'I like punk' or 'a punk band', but not 'a punk' to mean a song — use 'a punk song' or 'a punk track'.

Common Mistakes

I listened to a punk on the radio.
I listened to a punk song on the radio.
'Punk' as a music genre is uncountable; use 'punk song' or 'punk track' for individual pieces.

4. a violent young person, usually male, who commits crimes or operates as part of

4.nounB2
Definition

a violent young person, usually male, who commits crimes or operates as part of a street gang

Example

A couple of punks tried to steal Ravindra's phone outside the train station after dark.

informal register: disapproving term

The shop owner chased the punk who smashed the window and took the cash.

Common collocations
  • young punk
  • street punk
  • bunch of punks
Synonyms
  • hoodlum

    similar meaning but slightly older and more dramatic

  • thug

    emphasises physical violence more than this sense of punk

  • delinquent

    more formal; often used in legal or social-work contexts

Usage Note

This sense is informal and has a negative, disapproving tone. It is older than the music-related senses and was common in American slang from the mid-20th century. Not all young criminals are called 'punks' — the term suggests a cocky, disrespectful attitude.

Common Mistakes

That punk band is in trouble with the police' (ambiguous — could mean musicians or criminals).
That punk robbed the convenience store last night.
Use context to disambiguate; this sense is about criminal behaviour, not music.

5. dry, decayed wood that crumbles into dust easily and is used as tinder because i

5.nounC1
Definition

dry, decayed wood that crumbles into dust easily and is used as tinder because it catches a spark with very little effort

Example

Nikos gathered dry punk from a hollow tree stump to start the campfire before sunset.

domain: camping/survival

The survival instructor showed the class that punk wood burns steadily even in damp weather.

Common collocations
  • dry punk
  • punk wood
  • punk from a log
Synonyms
  • tinder

    broader term for any material that catches fire easily

  • kindling

    usually refers to small dry sticks rather than decayed wood

Usage Note

Uncountable in this sense. This is the original English meaning of 'punk', dating from the 1600s. It is rarely used in everyday conversation today, mostly by campers and survival enthusiasts.

6. a stick or piece of material that burns slowly without producing a flame, used t

6.nounC1
Definition

a stick or piece of material that burns slowly without producing a flame, used to light the fuses of fireworks from a safe distance

Example

Emily lit the firework fuse with a long punk while the children watched safely.

domain: fireworks

The seller handed Christopher a punk to light each rocket from a safe distance.

Common collocations
  • light a punk
  • a long punk
  • punk for fireworks
Synonyms
  • slow match

    a rope or cord treated to burn slowly, used historically for lighting gunpowder

  • fusee

    a larger friction-match used for emergency flares, not the same as punk

Usage Note

Countable — 'a punk', 'two punks'. This sense is closely related to sense 5 (ROTTEN WOOD): historically, a stick coated with decayed wood paste was used as a slow-burning fuse lighter.

punk — adjective

punk — verb

Word family

  • punk rocker
    nounB2
  • punkish
    adjectiveC2

Synonym discussion

Sense: noun/3

Punk and punk rock are often used interchangeably for the late-1970s fast, loud music style, though punk rock is slightly more specific in emphasising the music's rock roots. Hardcore punk is a faster, more aggressive subgenre that emerged in the early 1980s, with bands like Black Flag and Minor Threat; it is not a synonym for punk itself. New wave grew out of the same scene but was more melodic, commercially friendly, and less angry — bands like The Police and Blondie are new wave, not punk, even though they shared early audiences. In everyday use, punk covers both the music and the culture; punk rock narrows the focus to the sound. If someone says 'I listen to punk,' they usually mean the musical genre (sense 3), while 'I am a punk' refers to a person (sense 2).

punk ↗punk rockhardcore punknew wave

Etymology

unknown originpossibly Algonquian languagesEnglish

The English word 'punk' has been used since the 1500s, but its origin is unclear. It may come from a Native American word for 'ash' or 'decayed wood' — which is the source of the tinder and fuse-lighter meanings (noun senses 5 and 6, the oldest surviving senses). In the 1900s, American slang used 'punk' for a young criminal or worthless person (sense 4), and later for cheap, inferior things (adjective sense 2). The modern senses — punk music, fashion, and subculture (noun 1–3, adjective 1) — all come from the rock music scene of the mid-1970s, when bands like the Ramones and the Sex Pistols adopted the word as a badge of rebellion.