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funk1

Pronunciation: /fʌŋk/

informal
Definition of funk

noun

  • 1 (also blue funk) chiefly British a state of great fear or panic:are you in a blue funk about running out of things to say?
  • chiefly North American a state of depression:I sat absorbed in my own blue funk
  • 2 dated, chiefly British a coward: I sit shuddering, too much of a funk to fight

verb

[with object] chiefly British
  • avoid (something) out of fear:I could have seen him this morning but I funked it

Origin:

mid 18th century (first recorded as Oxford University slang): perhaps from funk2 in the slang sense 'tobacco smoke', or from obsolete Flemish fonck 'disturbance, agitation'

funk in other Oxford dictionaries

Definition of funk in the US English dictionary

Nearby words

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