folk

noun \ ˈfōk \

Definition of folk

plural folk or folks

1 archaic :a group of kindred tribes forming a nation :people

2 :the great proportion of the members of a people that determines the group character and that tends to preserve its characteristic form of civilization and its customs, arts and crafts, legends, traditions, and superstitions from generation to generation

3 folk or folks plural :a certain kind, class, or group of people

old folks

just plain folk

country folk

media folk

4 folk or folks plural :people generally

5 folks plural :the persons of one's own family; especially :parents

6 :folk music

See folk defined for English-language learners

See folk defined for kids

Examples of folk in a Sentence

Folks say that house is haunted.
Some folks think the law should be changed.
a home for old folks
the distinctive speech of folks from the South
I'll be spending the holidays with my folks.
His folks gave him everything a kid could want.

Recent Examples of folk from the Web

The folks at Arlington Charities want everyone to see the results of the recent makeover of their agency located at 811 Secretary Drive during an Open House on Sept. 7.

— faye reeder, star-telegram, "Open house will show how Arlington Charities fights hunger, poverty," 30 Aug. 2017
Hampton Hoot HAMPTON — Fletcher Memorial Library, 257 Main St., will host the Hampton Hoot, an old fashioned sing-along and playing of folk songs and tuneful favorites from the 1950s and 1960s, led by Jamie Boss.

— Courant Community, "Community News For The Windham Edition," 29 Aug. 2017
Brown, folk duo Simon & Garfunkel, country icon Parton, and rock bands the Cure and Wilco.

— david lindquist, Indianapolis Star, "Say it loud: Tonic Ball reveals its honored acts," 29 Aug. 2017
Folks who have the means to get far off-road and the time to stay may at least get a look at a bull moose.

— john schandelmeier, Alaska Dispatch News, "Denali Highway scorecard: Big berry crop, decent caribou hunting; moose hard to find," 28 Aug. 2017
There’s infighting between the former Bush appointees, the sort of normal Republicans, and the Trump-campaign folks who have been appointed.

— nick tabor, Daily Intelligencer, "‘Am I an Accomplice to This Terrible Thing That’s Happening?’," 22 Aug. 2017
The more people get to see what life is like for other folks, then hopefully those people start to look human to those who experience other types of privilege.

— nina bahadur, SELF, "How 'Another Round' Hosts Tracy Clayton and Heben Nigatu Connect to Listeners—and Disconnect From Everything," 21 Aug. 2017
A few folks here and there started to drop ironweed plants in the middle of their otherwise neat and tidy gardens.

— paul cappiello, The Courier-Journal, "Ironweeds. How this old field weed turned into a garden gem," 18 Aug. 2017
The folks at the Hydraulic Press Channel took on that experiment this week, and unlike in the channel's video of extruding non-Newtonian fluid, there isn't any explosive conclusion to this one.

— sophie weiner, Popular Mechanics, "Watch a Hydraulic Press Make a Giant, Gross Gummy Worm," 18 Aug. 2017

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