Meanings
- uncountableentertainmentA genre of rock music associated with short, loud, energetic songs played on electric guitars and drums and employing angry, offensive, and/or political lyrics.
Punk rock died when the first kid said / "Punk's not dead, punk's not dead"
2001, David Berman, “Tennessee”, performed by Silver JewsSynonyms: punk
Synonyms & antonyms
nounA genre of rock music associated with short, loud, energetic songs played on electric guitars and drums and employing angry, offensive, and/or political lyrics.
More synonyms by meaning
nounrock music with deliberately offensive lyrics expressing anger and social alienation; in part a reaction against progressive rock
Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.
Origin
See punk + rock. First attested in 1970 in reference to rockabilly; possibly coined in its current sense by American music critic Dave Marsh in the May 1971 issue of Creem, from earlier punk music.
Full word history & related roots →Translations
Chinese Mandarin 朋客搖滾樂 /朋客摇滚乐
- 朋客搖滾樂 /朋客摇滚乐 (péngkè yáogǔnyuè)rock genre
Finnish punkrock
- punkrockrock genre
German Punk Rock
- Punk Rockrock genre
Japanese パンクロック
- パンクロック (pankurokku)rock genre
Korean 펑크 록
- 펑크 록 (peongkeu rok)rock genre
Polish punk rock
- punk rockrock genre
Russian панк-ро́к
- панк-ро́к (pank-rók)rock genre
Turkish punk rock
- punk rockrock genre
Cite this entry
punk rock. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 4, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/punk%20rock
“punk rock.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/punk%20rock. Accessed November 4, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “punk rock,” accessed November 4, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/punk%20rock.
Source: punk rock on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.