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• funk
  funk

  noun

  cowering fear; state of great fright or terror.
• Funk
  Funk

  noun

  Casimir 1884–1967, U.S. biochemist, born in Poland: discovered thiamine, the first vitamin isolated.

funk

¹ American  

[fuhngk] / fʌŋk /

noun

1. cowering fear; state of great fright or terror.

2. a dejected mood.

   He's been in a funk ever since she walked out on him.

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verb (used with object)

• funks,
  present (3rd person singular)
• funked,
  past participle,  past
• funking
  present participle

1. British. to shrink from; try to shirk.

   We can only say that the government has funked its responsibility.

verb (used without object)

• funks,
  present (3rd person singular)
• funked,
  past participle,  past
• funking
  present participle

1. British. to shrink or quail in fear.

   He funked at nothing, and could lick every boy in the neighborhood.

funk ² American  

[fuhngk] / fʌŋk /

noun

1. Jazz. music having a funky quality.

   Let's set aside our music exercises for now and get down to some real funk.

2. a strong, earthy smell; stench.

   That is some serious funk coming from the compost pile.

3. the state or quality of being funky.

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Funk ³ American  

[foongk, fuhngk] / fʊŋk, fʌŋk /

noun

1. Casimir 1884–1967, U.S. biochemist, born in Poland: discovered thiamine, the first vitamin isolated.

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funk ¹ British  

/ fʌŋk /

noun

1. Also called: blue funk.  a state of nervousness, fear, or depression (esp in the phrase in a funk )

2. a coward

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verb

1. to flinch from (responsibility) through fear

2. (tr; usually passive) to make afraid

Funk ² British  

/ fʌŋk /

noun

1. Casimir (ˈkæzɪˌmɪə). 1884–1967, US biochemist, born in Poland: studied and named vitamins

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funk ³ British  

/ fʌŋk /

noun

1. slang a strong foul odour

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funk ⁴ British  

/ fʌŋk /

noun

1. informal a type of polyrhythmic Black dance music with heavy syncopation

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Funk Scientific  

/ fŭngk,fo̅o̅ngk /

1. Polish-born American biochemist who is credited with the discovery of vitamins. In 1912 he postulated the existence of four organic bases he called vitamines which were necessary for normal health and the prevention of deficiency diseases. He also contributed to the knowledge of the hormones of the pituitary gland and the sex glands.

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Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• funker
  noun

Inflected Forms

Participles

• funking
  present
• funked
  past

Conjugated Forms

Present

• funk
  simple
• funks
  simple
• have funked
  perfect
• has funked
  perfect
• am funking
  progressive
• are funking
  progressive
• is funking
  progressive
• have been funking
  perfect progressive
• has been funking
  perfect progressive

Past

• funked
  simple
• had funked
  perfect
• was funking
  progressive
• were funking
  progressive
• had been funking
  perfect progressive

Future

• will funk
  simple
• will have funked
  perfect
• will be funking
  progressive
• will have been funking
  perfect progressive

Etymology

Origin of funk¹

First recorded in 1735–45; originally Oxford University slang; perhaps from early Dutch dialect (in de) fonck “in difficulties;” further origin unknown

Origin of funk²

First recorded in 1615–25; perhaps from North French dialect funquier, funquer “give off smoke,” Old North French fungier, from Vulgar Latin fūmicāre, alteration of Latin fūmigāre fumigate

Explanation

If you're in a funk, it means that you've been feeling sad. You might be in a serious funk after your best friend moves across the country. One way to use funk is to mean "blues" or "depression." Everyone's in a funk sometimes — for some people, the shorter, darker winter days automatically put them in a bit of a funk. Funk also refers to a bluesy kind of music with a strong underlying bass rhythm. It comes from funky, which means "stinky" or "musty smelling," from the French funkière, "smoke." In African American music, funky became a compliment, a description of soulful, earthy music — like funk itself.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

funk Funk funks funked funking

The rest of the team is in a much worse funk.

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 17, 2026

She detects a generalized funk poisoning our existence and asks, not unreasonably, “What is with this bummer veil cast over everything fun or exciting?”

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 30, 2026

Within minutes, Mars sat behind a pair of bright red congas for Cha Cha, signalling the start of a set that moved between R&B, funk, Latin influences and pop.

From BBC ● Jul. 19, 2026

In other words, he was dealing with a country just as bellicose and irrational as he is, and it had him in a funk.

From Salon ● Jul. 14, 2026

You can imagine that that didn’t snap me out of my funk too well.

From "Drums, Girls, and Dangerous Pie" by Jordan Sonnenblick

As wrestlers, Funk and his brother, Terry, often were billed as being from there as well.

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 5, 2026

Dory Funk Jr., a pro wrestling icon and one of three members of the Funk family to be inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame, has died at age 85.

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 5, 2026

Appeared in the March 18, 2026, print edition as 'A Songwriter’s Country Funk'.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Mar. 17, 2026

She later appeared on screen during a medley of Ronson's hits, including Valerie and Uptown Funk.

From BBC ● Feb. 28, 2026

My Save Dad from His Funk project was sure to bring back his gut-busting laughs.

From "Sir Fig Newton and the Science of Persistence" by Sonja Thomas

Psychiatrists and psychologists talk to us, shock us and above all, medicate us to lift us from our funks.

From Scientific American ● Dec. 24, 2022

He watched two teammates bust out of funks.

From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 10, 2021

Sometimes, cooking funks arrive without warning — and they don't care whether you have a pantry full of groceries, or are having friends over in two hours, or are hungry literally right now.

From Salon ● Sep. 9, 2021

And hope that the learning curve hastens for the likes of Kelenic and White, while the struggling veterans find a way out of their collective funks.

From Seattle Times ● May 19, 2021

He felt deeply responsible for Eric, who could be cheerfully upbeat but could also grow morose and withdrawn and sometimes would sink into deep funks, not talking for days.

From "Geeks: How Two Lost Boys Rode the Internet Out of Idaho" by Jon Katz

The reason was obvious, although Bach didn’t quite put it in these terms: the Games needed to be funked up for a younger generation.

From The Guardian ● Jun. 13, 2017

Gospel-infused smokin' swamp pop, clearly on-topic and funked up by Spooner Oldham's spiky, staccato keyboard flourishes.

From The Guardian ● Mar. 3, 2011

In the traditional scheme of things, this represents the ultimate role reversal and Dreyfuss handles the passages where he is feeling funked out by the conflict between love and ambition very nicely.

From Time Magazine Archive

At this crux, his tears accomplished what his nerve funked.

From Time Magazine Archive

He funked no game;— Says he: "I'll stake blood, bone an' life, But I'll put no woman to th' shame Of bein' played 'a chip' in tin-horn strife!"

From Derby Day in the Yukon and Other Poems of the "Northland" by Yukon Bill

After funking up Marymoor Park with an ace band in 2019, the 81-year-old progressive jazz great’s taking it inside to the Paramount Theatre’s more acoustically advanced surroundings.

From Seattle Times ● Sep. 14, 2021

Herbie Hancock played “Watermelon Man” in all of its Blue Note piano splendor before funking it up with a handheld synthesizer.

From Washington Post ● Sep. 24, 2016

"Everybody funking and don't know how," sang Clinton.

From Los Angeles Times ● Feb. 5, 2016

The troubadour goes optimistic in the title track before funking out on “Walking Like a Man” and the bluegrass-influenced “Roses in the Rain.”

From Washington Times ● May 3, 2015

My father was a proud man, Mary, as proud as your mother, and I think he'd have died of shame if he'd thought I was funking this.

From Changing Winds A Novel by St. John G. (St. John Greer) Ervine