skulk
Americanverb (used without object)
noun
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a person who skulks.
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a pack or group of foxes.
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Rare. an act or instance of skulking.
verb
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to move stealthily so as to avoid notice
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to lie in hiding; lurk
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to shirk duty or evade responsibilities; malinger
noun
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a person who skulks
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obsolete a pack of foxes or other animals that creep about stealthily
Related Words
See lurk.
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of skulk
First recorded in 1175–1225; Middle English, from Scandinavian (not in Old Norse ); compare Danish, Norwegian skulke, Swedish skolka “to play hooky”
Explanation
Skulking is cowardly. It means hiding out, either because you're trying to pull something off in secret, or because you're trying to get out of doing something you're supposed to be doing. If you cut school, it makes sense to do it in the style of Ferris Bueller's Day Off, and enjoy yourself. Will the punishment be worse than if you skulk around town, avoiding teachers and people your parents know, not doing anything you really want to do? In spy movies, there are always bad guys in hotel lobbies, skulking about, hiding behind open newspapers.
Vocabulary lists containing skulk
Animal Farm
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Beowulf
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"The Yellow Wallpaper" by Charlotte Perkins Gilman
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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.
I’ve seen too many protagonists skulk down dark hallways, but McCarthy’s version of that shot is so visceral that you feel like he’s really been there.
From Los Angeles Times • Apr. 30, 2026
You could skulk back to the Other Place.
From Seattle Times • Mar. 29, 2024
It’s a classic safari moment: A lion stands over a fresh carcass while hyenas skulk at the periphery, heads low.
From National Geographic • Feb. 8, 2024
She has to do her work at night and skulk around in the darkness.
From Salon • Oct. 14, 2023
I wait until the three of them return to Owen’s room to tear it apart again, then skulk out the back door.
From "Every Day" by David Levithan
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.
