cluck

verb

Save Word

\ ˈklək

clucked; clucking; clucks

Definition of cluck

(Entry 1 of 2)

intransitive verb

1 : to make a cluck

2 : to make a clicking sound with the tongue

3 : to express interest or concern critics clucked over the new developments

transitive verb

1 : to call with a cluck

2 : to express with interest or concern

cluck

noun

Definition of cluck (Entry 2 of 2)

1 : the characteristic sound made by a hen especially in calling her chicks

2 : a stupid or naive person a dumb cluck

Synonyms & Antonyms More Example Sentences Learn More about cluck

Keep scrolling for more

Synonyms & Antonyms for cluck

Synonyms: Noun

airhead,
birdbrain,
blockhead,
bonehead,
bubblehead,
chowderhead,
chucklehead,
clodpoll
(or clodpole),
clot
[British],
clunk,
cretin,
cuddy
(or cuddie)
[British dialect],
deadhead,
dim bulb
[slang],
dimwit,
dip,
dodo,
dolt,
donkey,
doofus
[slang],
dope,
dork
[slang],
dullard,
dum-dum,
dumbbell,
dumbhead,
dummkopf,
dummy,
dunce,
dunderhead,
fathead,
gander,
golem,
goof,
goon,
half-wit,
hammerhead,
hardhead,
idiot,
ignoramus,
imbecile,
jackass,
know-nothing,
knucklehead,
lamebrain,
loggerhead
[chiefly dialect],
loon,
lump,
lunkhead,
meathead,
mome
[archaic],
moron,
mug
[chiefly British],
mutt,
natural,
nimrod
[slang],
nincompoop,
ninny,
ninnyhammer,
nit
[chiefly British],
nitwit,
noddy,
noodle,
numskull
(or numbskull),
oaf,
pinhead,
prat
[British],
ratbag
[chiefly Australian],
saphead,
schlub
(also shlub)
[slang],
schnook
[slang],
simpleton,
stock,
stupe,
stupid,
thickhead,
turkey,
woodenhead,
yahoo,
yo-yo

Antonyms: Noun

brain,
genius

Examples of cluck in a Sentence

Verb The hen clucked at her chicks. The driver clucked at the horses to get them moving. Commentators have been clucking over his lack of experience. Noun Don't be such a dumb cluck. stuck with a bunch of clucks on an extended bus tour

Recent Examples on the Web: Verb Laughter usually had a 50 percent participation rate; whatever made two of us laugh usually made the other two roll their eyes or cluck their tongues. — Washington Post, "Afraid of becoming your parents? Dr. Rick comes to the rescue, smartly satirizing a generational divide.," 16 Mar. 2021 There are some people that just can't dance, some people that can't sing (even in the shower), and some people that can't cluck, cut, and yelp like a turkey. — Will Brantley, Field & Stream, "The 2020 Turkey Hunter’s Holiday Gift Guide," 24 Nov. 2020 For Gen Xers staring down middle-aged obsolescence, the Williams twins’ video provides a satisfying twofer: a chance to cluck their tongues at clueless youths while confirming the supremacy of their own touchstones. — Jody Rosen, New York Times, "The Racial Anxiety Lurking Behind Reaction Videos," 27 Aug. 2020 Each day the tawny redheads mingle and cluck, drink water and peck at their food. — Meg Jones, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, "It wasn't just toilet paper. People stocked up on eggs during pandemic, sending wholesale prices skyrocketing," 23 Apr. 2020 On a recent day Lein stood in one of her barns as a contented chorus of 9,400 chickens clucked and murmured. — Meg Jones, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, "It wasn't just toilet paper. People stocked up on eggs during pandemic, sending wholesale prices skyrocketing," 23 Apr. 2020 The latest iteration is Fifth Macroyan, a cluster of 18-story apartment towers now under construction, featuring balconies and large windows on a flat lot populated by clucking chickens. — David Zucchino, New York Times, "In Kabul’s Heart, Soviet Towers Harbor Decades of Tales," 9 Apr. 2020 Your role here isn’t to cluck your tongue, but to find a safe and quick route past. — Matt Bean, Sunset Magazine, "The New Rules of Hiking During Quarantine," 20 Apr. 2020 August clucked his tongue and the cat came sidling up, arching its back, rubbing against August’s boot. — New York Times, "‘August,’ by Callan Wink: An Excerpt," 31 Mar. 2020 Recent Examples on the Web: Noun And never utter so much as a cluck without a setup tree and shooting lane in mind. — Will Brantley, Field & Stream, "Top Turkey Hunting Tactics to Try This Spring," 22 Mar. 2021 With the pandemic raging, an encounter that days earlier might have ended in a friendly apology or a cluck of sympathy quickly turned ugly. — Melissa Chan, Time, "'I Want This Over.' For Victims and the Accused, Justice Is Delayed as COVID-19 Snarls Courts," 22 Feb. 2021 That set off some cluck-clucking among the neighbors. — Russ Mitchell Staff Writer, Los Angeles Times, "Tesla called her a criminal. Her fight could be a milestone for employees’ rights," 8 Dec. 2020 Once the first bird begins recalling with a yelp, cluck, or kee-kee, the game is on. — Gerry Bethge, Outdoor Life, "How to Hunt a Wild Turkey for Your Thanksgiving," 24 Nov. 2020 More calcium with every peck means more cluck for your buck. — Dallas News, "Dallasite launches Boxed Bites picnic meal delivery," 17 Aug. 2020 But Maggie is one of those somewhat sainted free spirits who light up everyday dreariness (at least in the movies), stirring things up while inspiring clucks of disapproval and censure. — Manohla Dargis, New York Times, "‘To the Stars’ Review: Rebels in Bobby Socks, Yearning for More," 23 Apr. 2020 But don’t get carried away and string together too many loud, aggressive, irregular clucks and pocks that can drown out a turkey’s gobble. — Michael Hanback, Outdoor Life, "25 Top Spring Turkey Hunting Tips," 20 Apr. 2020 Pips and whistles, and the first whispery yelps—and there will be some bubbly clucks too. — The Editors, Field & Stream, "The Outdoorsman’s Guide to Social Distancing," 18 Mar. 2020

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'cluck.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.