Funk

English

Noun

Funk (plural Funks)

1. (obsolete) spark
2. (obsolete) touchwood, punk, tinder

Noun

Funk (countable and uncountable; plural Funks)

1. (countable) mental depression
2. (uncountable) A state of fear or panic, especially cowardly

Verb

Funk (third-person singular simple present Funks, present participle Funking, simple past and past participle Funked)

1. To shrink from, or avoid something because of fear

Noun

Funk (countable and uncountable; plural Funks)

1. (countable) Foul or unpleasant smell, especially body odour. Examples of 18th Century usage cited in Universal English Dictionary, 1896.
2. (uncountable) A genre of popular music associated with the 1970s and typified by prominent bass guitar and horn section.

Derived terms

• funky

Thesaurus

Milquetoast, abject fear, affright, alarm, awe, baby, back out, big baby, blench, blink, blue funk, boggle, change color, chicken, chicken liver, chicken out, consternation, coward, cowardice, craven, cringe, curdle the blood, dastard, desert under fire, dismay, disquiet, draw back, dread, falter, fear, flinch, fraid-cat, fraidy-cat, freeze, fright, frighten, funk out, funker, get cold feet, grow pale, horrification, horripilate, horror, invertebrate, jellyfish, lily liver, lose courage, make one tremble, milksop, mouse, pale, panic, panic fear, phobia, poltroon, quail, quitter, raise apprehensions, recoil, reek, scare, scaredy-cat, scuttle, shake, shrink, sissy, skedaddle, spook, stagger, stampede, startle, stench, stink, take alarm, take fright, terror, turn color, turn pale, unholy dread, unman, unnerve, unstring, weak sister, weakling, white feather, white liver, wince

Pronunciation

• Rhymes: -ʌŋk

Etymology 1

From Middle English funke, fonke (“spark”), from Old English *funca, *fanca (“spark”), from Proto-Germanic *funkô, *fankô (“spark”), from Proto-Indo-European *(s)peng-, *(s)pheng- (“to shine”). Cognate with Middle Low German funke, fanke (“spark”), Middle Dutch vonke (“spark”), Old High German funcho, funko (“spark”), German Funke (“spark”). More at spunk.

Etymology 2

1743, Scottish and Northern English dialectal word, originally a verb meaning "to panic, fail due to panic". Perhaps from or cognate with obsolete Flemish fonck (“distress, agitation”), from Middle Dutch fonck (“perturbation, agitation”). More at flunk.

Etymology 3

1620, from French dialectal (Norman) funquer, funquier (“to smoke, reek”), from Old Northern French fungier (“to smoke”), from Vulgar Latin fūmicāre, alteration of Latin fūmigāre (“to smoke, fumigate”). Related to French dialect funkière (“smoke”). More at fumigate.

Translations

A genre of popular music

Finnish: funk (fi) French: funk (fr) m. German: Funk  (de) m. Italian: funkulo (it) m.

Japanese: ファンク (ja) (fanku) Portuguese: fânque (pt) m. Spanish: funk (es) m.

mental depression

Finnish: masennus (fi)

A state of fear or panic

Finnish: paniikki (fi), pakokauhu (fi)

Foul or unpleasant smell