kuru

noun

ku·​ru ˈku̇r-(ˌ)ü 

: a rare progressive fatal prion disease that resembles Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease and has occurred among tribespeople in eastern New Guinea who engaged in a form of ritual cannibalism

Examples of kuru in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

Luwi said that, after kuru ended, the first person in his village to be targeted as a sorcerer was his uncle Koiye. — Rachel Aviv, New Yorker, 17 Aug. 2026

Backstage hologram continues to sharpen the edges of kuru’s music, with punchier low end and brattier energy that occasionally resembles the moshpit-ready rage rap pushed by contemporaries like Prettifun and Nettspend. — Jude Noel, Pitchfork, 30 Apr. 2026

Word History

Etymology

Fore (language of eastern highland Papua New Guinea)

First Known Use

1957, in the meaning defined above

Medical Definition

kuru

noun

ku·​ru ˈku̇(ə)r-(ˌ)ü 

: a rare progressive fatal prion disease that resembles Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease and has occurred among tribespeople in eastern New Guinea who engaged in a form of ritual cannibalism

called also laughing death, laughing sickness