Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

  • noun Used as a disparaging term for a person of East Asian birth or descent.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • noun slang, vulgar, pejorative, offensive, ethnic slur A person from the Far East, Oceania or Southeast Asia, in particular a Vietnamese, Filipino, Chinese, Korean person.
  • noun informal Grime or mud.

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

  • noun any thick, viscous matter
  • noun (slang) a disparaging term for an Asian person (especially for North Vietnamese soldiers in the Vietnam War)

Etymologies

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition

[Perhaps alteration of earlier goo-goo, native inhabitant of the Philippines, Pacific islander.]

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

Use traced to U.S. Marines in Philippines in early 20th century. Earliest recorded example is dated 1920.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

Possible blend of goop and gunk.

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Examples

  • I’d use the word gook more times than I should when talking to the boys in my company, but in my own mind I called them pals for some reason having nothing whatever to do with saintly tendencies on my part or theirs.

    Noble Norfleet Reynolds Price 2002

  • I’d use the word gook more times than I should when talking to the boys in my company, but in my own mind I called them pals for some reason having nothing whatever to do with saintly tendencies on my part or theirs.

    Noble Norfleet Reynolds Price 2002

  • A gook is a raghead is a wetback is a redskin is a girl.

    Archive 2008-09-01 2008

  • A gook is a raghead is a wetback is a redskin is a girl.

    Presidential Debate #1: McCain Curses 2008

  • A user should be confused N times, until he finally realizes that the gobblegy-gook is * supposed* to look like that, and realizes on his own that he should paste the address of the link into his River of News aggregator.

    Scripting News for 6/1/2006 « Scripting News Annex 2006

  • "One might as well argue that all right-wingers are" gook "- spouting Canadian paranoids who genuinely fear a radical Islamic takeover of the West in the coming years and think it prudent to bomb Iran as soon as possible."

    Zach Marks: Liberals Want Military Rule of U.S. and Conservatives Hate Democracy 2008

  • For those of you who were to busy gasping over the use of the word gook or fish head, the Hmong people often smile or laugh when confronted or yelled at.

    “Gran Torino” movie review » Scene-Stealers 2009

  • The GI slang term gook has no connection to geek and, at least initially, was not an intended slur on Asians.

    No Uncertain Terms William Safire 2003

  • The GI slang term gook has no connection to geek and, at least initially, was not an intended slur on Asians.

    No Uncertain Terms William Safire 2003

  • The GI slang term gook has no connection to geek and, at least initially, was not an intended slur on Asians.

    No Uncertain Terms William Safire 2003

Comments

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  • VERY stupid antecedents to this one. The Korean word for America is 'miguk' ("beautiful country"), which is what Koreans would say upon seeing US soldiers. The hur-hur interpretation was 'me gook', and therefrom the slur arose. The same phonological road as ahuacatl->avocado, with much worse results.

    May 2, 2009