Definitions
American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
- adj. Frightened; panicky.
- adj. Having a moldy or musty smell: funky cheese; funky cellars.
- adj. Having a strong, offensive, unwashed odor.
- adj. Music Of or relating to music that has an earthy quality reminiscent of the blues.
- adj. Music Combining elements of jazz, blues, and soul and characterized by syncopated rhythm and a heavy, repetitive bass line.
- adj. Slang Earthy and uncomplicated; natural: "At the opposite end of Dallas's culinary spectrum is funky regional fare” ( Jacqueline Friedrich).
- adj. Slang Characterized by originality and modishness; unconventional: "a bizarre, funky [hotel ] dressed up as a ship, with mock portholes and mirrored ceilings over the beds” ( Ann Louise Bardach).
- adj. Slang Outlandishly vulgar or eccentric in a humorous or tongue-in-cheek manner; campy: "funky caricatures of sexpot glamour” ( Pauline Kael).
Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia
- Timid; shrinking in fear.
- Kicking; given to kicking, as a horse.
- Easily angered; touchy.
Wiktionary
- adj. US, slang offbeat, unconventional or eccentric.
- adj. US, slang Not quite right; of questionable quality; not appropriate to the context.
- adj. slang, UK, US cool; great; excellent
- adj. Having or relating to the smell of funk.
- adj. music relating to or reminiscent of various genres of African American music.
- adj. UK, slang, dated Relating to, or characterized by, great fear, or funking.
GNU Webster's 1913
- adj. Colloq. Eng. Pertaining to, or characterized by, great fear, or funking; having great fear.
- n. (Music) having an earthy, unsophisticated style or feeling earthy and seemingly unsophisticated, having elements of black American blues and gospel. See 2nd funk, n.
WordNet 3.0
- adj. offensively malodorous
- adj. in a state of cowardly fright
- adj. (of jazz) having the soulful feeling of early blues
- adj. stylish and modern in an unconventional way
Etymologies
- funk + -y (Wiktionary)
- From funk, strong smell, tobacco smoke, perhaps from French dialectal funquer, to give off smoke, from Old French fungier, from Latin fūmigāre; see fumigate. (American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition)
Examples
“MIT is now looking to add more housing to its plans, said Marsh, the real estate executive, as well as what he termed funky retail'' components that would answer the city's and residents' desire to avoid filling the area with chain stores.”
“It was what we called a funky place," says pianist and songwriter Dave Frishberg.”
“We´re not leaving for a while longer and I can´t add Antibbes to my list but I´ll be down the road in funky Marseilles enjoying (in my opinion) some of the best bouillabaisse and Bouride on the planet on the malecón south of the old port at the old style Restaurant Michele - an institution in Marseilles.”
“This makes it possible for some models to be used in funky interiors and other models in elegant rooms, ensuring a large array of usage.”
“Permute with as many different Web services as you can imagine being recombined in funky ways.”
“When it really becomes funky is when you get to civ stage.”
EXTRALIFE – By Scott Johnson - Spore reviews aren’t mind blowing…
“We imagine drawing boards set up in funky apartments, maybe even garrets.”
“Baroness (any chick in funky glasses w/a cobra on her chest would be tight) & Cobra Commander, obviously.”
“It was metal and gemstones in funky, interesting, geometric patterns.”
“Bed Head, made by hair care giant TIGI, is the ultimate in funky, fun products.”
Lists
These user-created lists contain the word ‘funky’.
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Loanwords
Since English is littered with loanwords, everything could conceivably end up here. But there is a distinct feeling associated with these.. maybe they're young additions to the English language; I ...
iceberg, fjord, firth, abbey, abyss, anorak, apartheid, assassin, avalanche, avocado, balaclava, banana and 104 more...
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LIT - Ulysses - key words and phrases
vanish, number one, archangel, commodious, dominie, rubble, glisten, morose, spindle, ventilation, Blessed, christian and 503 more...
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CULI - wine-tasting adjectives
In this area of expertise nouns are frequently used as adjectives (almond, bacon, cider, diesel, fennel, fresh-cut hay, wool) or new adjectives are formed (appley, berrylike, citrusy, full-bodied, ...
acetic, acidic, aged, angular, appley, astringent, attractive, austere, berrylike, big, bitter, brawny and 511 more...
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Stink Different™
What-the-smell is that?
hircine, jumentous, hyena butter, cadaverine, new car smell, teen spirit, parosmia, hircismus, ylang-ylang, burnt hair, hydrogen sulfide, gay bomb and 115 more...
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EN-HU - important words for a HU inte...
Words only (I left out the expressions) from Geza Kerenyi's EN-HU interpreters' dictionary. Most of them pose some difficulty when interpreted between HU and EN in either or both directions.
abalone, abrasive, abstractionist, abstruse, abysmal, academia, accessibility, accessible, acclimate, accolade, accompanist, achiever and 1469 more...
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MUSIC - jazz
funky, pedal, bebop, rap, mix, sub, mid, rag, ECM, bpm, bop, Afro and 437 more...
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Wierd/Cool/Random words
wikiphobia, banana, tounge, rock, guitar, tuna fish, vain, puffy, wiggle, googlewhack, leap, jette and 14 more...
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Kingly epithets
Take one of CharlesFerdinand's excellent Merovingians or Goths, add a "the" and one of these descriptors, and presto, a character for your long-planned spoof fantasy novel.
unlikely, chuckleheaded, aloof, lacklustre, slow, murky, neurotic, clichéd, pediculous, dour, bungling, dandy and 23 more...
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THE WAY WE DRESS
These Vocabulary will learn adjectives that describe fashion choices and personal style in clothes.
chic, classic, conservative, elegant, fashionable, flashy, formal, frumpy, functional, funky, quirky, retro and 20 more...
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Hey Hey It's My Monkey!
I don't have a monkey. But if I did, he/she would be named ...
hanuman, shock, 500, rhesus, wrench, spank, puzzle, davy jones, funky, grip, swinger, chunky and 33 more...
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Rad Words.
Put any Rad word, any at all.
super, rad, awesome, amazing, cool, nerdfightastic, fantastic, spectacular, groovy, funky, dishy, sick and 5 more...
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But technically it means...
Words with technical senses resembling but not wholly reflective of vernacular usage, often because of a need for greater precision in some discipline or other.
planet, twilight, substance, zombie, sublime, type, token, natural, life, epidemic, evolution, likelihood and 12 more...
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Twitter faves
The new favourite words of people on Twitter.
A script searches Twitter for "X is my new favourite word" and adds it to this list.
See also:
gonk, nerking, guap, gimp, fabulous, dabble, fabilicious, tragic, zooted, hey, cheekini, nugget and 457 more... -
Fun Words
Words that are fun to say....
gobbledygook, jings, crivens, hullabaloo, wheech, brouhaha, pizzazz, harum-scarum, namby-pamby, pussyfoot, frippery, pitter-patter and 333 more...
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delightful descriptors
petrichor, omphaloskepsis, ouroboros, oneiric, flaneur, saunter, dishabituation, fractalization, eudemony, phosphorescence, holographic, umwelt and 136 more...
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Twitter favourites
The new favourite words of people on Twitter.
A script searches Twitter for "X is my new favourite word" and adds it to this list.
See also:
thunderfuck, incredible, merp, sara, flopparoo, smother, fugly, buer, plum, canny, nefelibata, cuntbucket and 1972 more...
Tweets
Looking for tweets for funky.
vanishedone From a recent call for papers on a philosophers' mailing list: 'While paper proposals on any topic are welcome, the organizers have a special interest in talks on "funky* notions of causation" for example, formal, emanative, immanent, material, (etc) causation; *funky is a technical term ruling out efficient and final causes.' Jun 22, 2008