n.
-
(also punk rock)
a loud, fast-moving, and aggressive form of rock music, popular in the late 1970s.
▸
(also punk rocker)
an admirer or player of punk music.
- N. Amer. informal a worthless person.
▸a thug or criminal.
- US informal (in prison slang) a passive male homosexual.
- chiefly N. Amer. soft, crumbly wood that has been attacked by fungus, used as tinder.
adj.
- relating to punk rock and its associated subculture.
- N. Amer. informal bad; worthless.
Derivative
- punkish adj.
- punky adj.
(punkier, punkiest)
.
Etymology
C17: perh., in some senses, rel. to archaic punk ‘prostitute’, also to spunk.