grok

American  

[grok] / grɒk /

verb (used with object)

1. to understand thoroughly and intuitively.

   The code is simple enough that you should be able to grok what it does.

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verb (used without object)

1. to communicate sympathetically.

Etymology

Origin of grok

Coined by Robert A. Heinlein in the science-fiction novel Stranger in a Strange Land (1961)

Explanation

When you grok something, you just get it — in other words, you totally grasp its meaning. Once you grok your best friend's sense of humor, her jokes won't confuse you but will instead make you laugh hysterically. The informal verb grok was an invention of the science fiction writer Robert A. Heinlein, whose 1961 novel Stranger in a Strange Land placed great importance on the concept of grokking. In the book, to grok is to empathize so deeply with others that you merge or blend with them. The simplest way to think of grok is as truly, deeply understanding someone or something. With any luck, you now grok the word grok.

Example Sentences

The name change is easier to grok for listeners, but it’s also a necessity since iTunes is riding off into the sunset this fall as of iOS 13 and macOS Catalina.

From The Verge • Aug. 7, 2019

I alone could grok and conjugate Todbaum’s sensibility, and, besides, he had a place picked out for us in Burbank.

From The New Yorker • Feb. 25, 2019

Still, I think many Oscar voters won’t quite grok the difference between these sound categories, and they’ll simply pick “Bohemian Rhapsody” for both.

From New York Times • Feb. 21, 2019

To grok the statistic lauded as the centerpiece of the study, you have to get there sideways.

From Slate • Aug. 23, 2018

Implies that the implementation is not intuitively obvious from the appearance, but the speaker is about to enable the listener to grok it.

From The Jargon File, Version 4.2.2, 20 Aug 2000 by Steele, Guy L.