kraken

noun

kra·​ken ˈkra-kən  ˈkrä- 

variants or Kraken

plural krakens or Krakens or kraken or Kraken

: a gigantic tentacled sea monster of Scandinavian myth

Mythical krakens are now thought of as giant squid or octopuses, capable of bringing down a ship with their tentacled arms. But many of the earliest kraken reports were of creatures so enormous that they grew vegetation on their backs like islands.

—Stephanie Pappas

Examples of kraken in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

And if one Cretaceous kraken has been uncovered, there may be more waiting to be found. —Ryan Brennan, Kansas City Star, 24 Apr. 2026

In other words, the oceans may have had their own version of a kraken all along. —Ryan Brennan april 24, Fort Worth Star-Telegram, 24 Apr. 2026

The asymmetry of the wear on the krakens’ jaws, meanwhile, hints that different parts of the animals’ brain were specialized for different tasks—a sign of advanced cognition in these invertebrates. —Kate Wong, Scientific American, 23 Apr. 2026

Kraken, one of the world’s oldest crypto exchanges, said it’s being extorted by a criminal group that claims to have access to some client account information. —Olga Kharif, Bloomberg, 13 Apr. 2026

Word History

Etymology

Norwegian dialect

First Known Use

1755, in the meaning defined above

Rhymes for kraken

• shaken
• taken
• takin
• waken
• awaken
• betaken
• forsaken
• mistaken
• partaken
• retaken
• unshaken
• godforsaken

Kids Definition

kraken

noun

kra·​ken ˈkräk-ən 

: a sea monster of Scandinavian legend