Word
Kana: パンク Romaji: panku Level: N1

パンク

Meaning in English

puncture, bursting; punk

Illustrated Dictionary
パンク - Illustrated Dictionary
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Word context

What it means

パンク is a loanword in Japanese used to refer to the English word punk, most commonly signaling the punk rock music and its countercultural scene, while also existing in everyday speech to mean a puncture or flat tire.

Main meanings

  • Punk subculture and music, especially punk rock
  • Puncture or flat tire in everyday life
  • Punk fashion and attitude as descriptors in media and casual language

How to use it

Used in casual and media contexts to discuss music and fashion, and in everyday life to describe tire punctures; the verb パンクする is used to indicate a flat tire or puncturing, with broader slang extending to punk aesthetics.

Variants and close terms

  • パンクロック (panku rokku) punk rock
  • パンク系 (panku-kei) punk-related styles
  • パンクファッション (panku fasshon) punk fashion

Etymology

Loanword adaptation from English punk into Japanese as panku, realized as the 3-syllable katakana パンク with a straightforward mapping of sounds; the representation mirrors the English onset and the final consonant being simplified.

Origin

Introduced in the late 1970s in urban Japan through Western punk rock and media, where the term was adopted to label the movement, bands, and related fashion; the sense of puncture exists as a separate, older loan meaning from English.

Word class

noun (名詞・外来語)