gunk
Americannoun
noun
Etymology
Origin of gunk
An Americanism dating back to 1932; originally a trademark name for a degreasing solvent
Explanation
Gunk is a gloppy, sticky substance, like the gunk you scrape off the soles of your shoes or the gunk at the bottom of a pond. Gunk is an American English slang term that was first used around 1950 to mean "viscous substance." The word comes from a liquid soap made in Massachusetts starting in the 1930s that was also called Gunk. If you buy Gunk today, it's a cleaning product used for car engines (and sold by a company known as GUNK). In general though, gunk is a great word for anything messy, slimy, or grimy.
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
WSJ | Buy Side: Clear out the gunk in your AirPods with this high-quality cleaning set.
From The Wall Street Journal • Feb. 6, 2026
People fall in love with the gunk that differentiates us from one another.
From Slate • Jan. 7, 2026
The 34-year-old has 15m followers on TikTok who watch him remove gunk and debris from swimming pools and then use a jet washer to restore them back to their original beauty.
From BBC • Dec. 3, 2024
Wastewater is filled with human feces, garbage and other gross gunk that carries dangerous disease, and is piped away from our civilization for that reason.
From Salon • Sep. 3, 2024
I dipped my finger in the gunk on the back of my hand, then massaged it into Maddy's scalp.
From "Patina" by Jason Reynolds
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
