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
Synonym Usage
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.
Skulk around some of those dark alleys visited by the likes of Ian Fleming and John Le Carre.
From Seattle Times • Jul. 13, 2011
Skulk back into your dark dens of iniquity, you Clement L. Vallandigham, and you James A. McMaster, and you S. Corning Judd, and you Amos Green, and you P.C.
From The Great North-Western Conspiracy in All Its Startling Details by Ayer, I. Windslow
Skulk, skulk, v.i. to sneak out of the way: to lurk.—ns.
From Chambers's Twentieth Century Dictionary (part 4 of 4: S-Z and supplements) by Various
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.
