Starbucks

S1T1A1R1B3U1C3K5S1
UK/ˈstɑːˌbʌks/US/ˈstɑɹˌbʌks/

proper noun

A widespread chain of coffee shops.

Less commonScrabble 17

Meanings

Starbucks1

proper nounStarbucks (plural Starbuckses or Starbucks)

plural Starbuckses

  1. A widespread chain of coffee shops.

    Many people began to wonder whether we really needed two Starbucks directly across the street from each other.

    2015, O. C. Ferrell, John Fraedrich, Linda Ferrell, Business Ethics: Ethical Decision Making & Cases, 10th edition, Cengage Learning, →ISBN, page 397
    5 more examples

    Each week, more than 33 million folks worldwide pass through a Starbucks. Plus, up to three Starbucks open every day somewhere on the globe.

    2005 April 30, Melinda Newman, “Q&A”, in Billboard, number 18, page 31

    Consider the Starbucks effect in the slogans written up recently in Fast Company magazine, where companies from various sectors now aspire to be the 'Starbucks of their respective industry': ...

    2008, Andrew M. Jones, The Innovation Acid Test: Growth Through Design and Differentiation, →ISBN

    On my three-block walk to the subway I noticed not one, not two, but four Starbucks, which was quite a high concentration of retail outlets even for the Queen of Caffeine.

    2010, Michael Salvatore, {Between} Boyfriends, Kensington Books, →ISBN, page 49

    Companies now want to turn themselves into “the Starbucks of the ham business” or “the Starbucks of fuel-injector makers.”

    2013, Taylor Clark, Starbucked, →ISBN

    Said the CEO of the nearly 500-plus store Caribou Coffee chain, “I got into the business because of what they [Starbucks] created.” In China, a small chain, Real Brewed Tea, aims to be “the Starbucks of tea.”

    2014, George Ritzer, The McDonaldization of Society, →ISBN

    Synonyms: 'Bucks, S'bucks, Shitbucks, Starbies

nounStarbucks (countable and uncountable, plural Starbuckses or Starbucks)

plural Starbuckses

  1. countablemetonymicallyuncountableA coffee from Starbucks.

    I read it straight through while I drank three Starbucks.

    2010, Timothy, “How My Life Changed”, in Kevin Leman, Have a New You by Friday: How to Accept Yourself, Boost Your Confidence & Change Your Life in 5 Days, Revell, →ISBN, page 73
    4 more examples

    I swear, if I had been drinking my Starbucks today it would have gone up my nose.

    2009, Cheyenne McCray, Demons Not Included: A Night Tracker Novel, page 163

    One part-time sociologist made an even more damning indictment: “Calling yourself a coffee nerd while drinking Starbucks is like calling yourself a beer nerd while drinking Budweiser.”

    2009, Bryant Simon, Everything but the Coffee: Learning about America from Starbucks, University of California Press, →ISBN, page 56

    “Good, have they got coffee?” Lorraine nodded. “Yes, they’ve been in since about eight and brought Starbucks.”

    2015, Valerie Goldsilk, Sins of Our Sisters, Whiskey Creek Press, →ISBN

    US Weekly’s regular photographic feature, “Stars: They’re Just Like Us!” which features celebrities engaged in such mundanities as pumping their own gas or drinking Starbucks, is a direct visual demonstration of this condescending simulated intimacy.

    2017, Karen Adkins, Gossip, Epistemology, and Power: Knowledge Underground, Palgrave Macmillan, →ISBN, page 239

    Synonyms: Starbies

Starbucks2

proper noun
  1. pluralplural of Starbuck (a surname)

Synonyms & antonyms

proper nounA widespread chain of coffee shops.

nounA coffee from Starbucks.

Similar

Origin

Starbucks · proper noun, noun

  1. Old Norsestor
  2. Old Norsebekkr
  3. EnglishStarbeck
  4. EnglishStarbuck
  5. EnglishStarbucks

From Starbuck (surname) + -s (likely originating from the locative, but stylized without the apostrophe). Named after Starbuck, a character in Herman Melville's novel Moby-Dick. Melville named the character in honor of the Starbuck family, a prominent whaling family based in Nantucket, Massachusetts. The surname itself derives from the community of Starbeck in North Yorkshire, England.

Full word history & related roots →

Starbucks · proper noun

See the etymology of the corresponding lemma form.

Full word history & related roots →

Translations

Arabic سْتَارْبَكْس
  • سْتَارْبَكْس (stārbaks)chain of coffee shops
Bengali স্টারবাক্স
  • স্টারবাক্স (sṭarbakśo)chain of coffee shops
Bulgarian Ста́рбъкс
  • Ста́рбъкс (Stárbăks)chain of coffee shops
Chinese Cantonese 士打北
  • 士打北chain of coffee shops
Chinese Mandarin 星巴克
  • 星巴克 (Xīngbākè)chain of coffee shops
Finnish Starbucks
  • Starbuckschain of coffee shops
Greek Σταρμπαξ
  • Σταρμπαξ (Starmpax)chain of coffee shops
Hebrew סטארבקס
  • סטארבקס (starbaks)chain of coffee shops
Hindi स्टारबक्स
  • स्टारबक्स (sṭārbaks)chain of coffee shops
Japanese スターバックス, スタバ
  • スターバックス (Sutābakkusu)chain of coffee shops
  • スタバ (Sutaba)chain of coffee shops
Korean 스타벅스
  • 스타벅스 (Seutabeokseu)chain of coffee shops
Persian استارباکس
  • استارباکس (estârbâks)chain of coffee shops
Portuguese Starbucks
  • Starbuckschain of coffee shops
Russian Ста́рбакс
  • Ста́рбакс (Stárbaks)chain of coffee shops
Tagalog Starbucks
  • Starbuckschain of coffee shops
Thai สตาร์บัคส์
  • สตาร์บัคส์ (sà-dtaa-bák)chain of coffee shops
Ukrainian Ста́рбакс
  • Ста́рбакс (Stárbaks)chain of coffee shops
Urdu سٹاربکس
  • سٹاربکس (sṭārbaks)chain of coffee shops
Cite this entry
APA

Starbucks. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/Starbucks

MLA

“Starbucks.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/Starbucks. Accessed November 3, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “Starbucks,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/Starbucks.

Source: Starbucks on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.