punk

UK: /ˈpʌŋk/ US: /pʌŋk/ ,(pungk)

WordReference Random House Learner's Dictionary of American English © 2025

punk² /pʌŋk/   n. 

1. Slang Terms [countable]
   • a young hoodlum.
2. Music and Dance punk rock.
3. [uncountable] a style or movement, mostly of young people, whose followers wear aggressively unusual clothing, hairstyles, etc.
4. punker.

adj. 

5. of or relating to punk rock or punk style.

WordReference Random House Unabridged Dictionary of American English © 2025

punk¹  (pungk), n. 

1. any prepared substance, usually in stick form, that will smolder and can be used to light fireworks, fuses, etc.
2. dry, decayed wood that can be used as tinder.
3. Fungi conk³.
4. Fungi a spongy substance derived from fungi;
   amadou;
   touchwood.

• origin, originally uncertain 1680–90, American.

punk²  (pungk), n. 

1. Slang Terms
   • something or someone worthless or unimportant.
   • a young ruffian;
     hoodlum.
   • an inexperienced youth.
   • a young male partner of a homosexual.
   • an apprentice, esp. in the building trades.
   • [Prison Slang.] a boy.
2. Music and Dance See punk rock. 
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.

adj. 

6. Informal Terms 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.

• 1590–1600; of obscure origin, originally; the sense development is apparently "prostitute'' "catamite'' "hoodlum''; the adjective, adjectival "poor in quality'' (1896) is unclearly derived and perh. a distinct word

Collins Concise English Dictionary © HarperCollins Publishers::

punk / pʌŋk/ noun

1. a youth movement of the late 1970s, characterized by anti-Establishment slogans and outrageous clothes and hairstyles
2. short for punk rock
3. an inferior, rotten, or worthless person or thing
4. worthless articles collectively
5. a young man kept by another man for sexual purposes; catamite
6. a prostitute

adjective

1. inferior, rotten, or worthless

Etymology: 16th Century: via Polari from Spanish pu(n)ta prostitute, pu(n)to male prostitute

punk / pʌŋk/ noun

1. dried decayed wood that smoulders when ignited: used as tinder

Etymology: 18th Century: of uncertain origin