spunk

1 of 2

noun

ˈspəŋk 

1

a

: a woody tinder : punk

b

: any of various fungi used to make tinder

2

: mettle, pluck

3

: spirit, liveliness

spunk

2 of 2

verb

spunked; spunking; spunks

intransitive verb

dialect

: to show spirit

—usually used with up

Synonyms of spunk

Noun

• courage
• grit
• fortitude
• bravery
• stamina
• courageousness
• guts
• determination

Examples of spunk in a Sentence

Noun

That little girl has a lot of spunk.

had the spunk to overcome a severe physical disability

Recent Examples on the Web

Noun

An essay that lacks the rough edges, occasional clunky vocabulary, or endearing spunk of imperfect teenage writing can quickly indicate over-coaching (or, perhaps worse, the use of AI). —Christopher Rim, Forbes.com, 27 Feb. 2026

Zero in on a slip dress that Bessette Kennedy (played with ravishing spunk by Sarah Pidgeon) wears on her first date with America’s Prince and premiere himbo people-pleaser, John F. Kennedy, Jr. —Rachel Tashjian, CNN Money, 19 Feb. 2026

But by the time of his individual short program Tuesday night, Malinin's fearless swagger and unrivaled spunk was back. —CBS News, 13 Feb. 2026

But by the time of his individual short program Tuesday night, Malinin’s fearless swagger and unrivaled spunk seemed to be back. —Dave Skretta, Hartford Courant, 13 Feb. 2026

Word History

Etymology

Noun

Scottish Gaelic spong sponge, tinder, from Middle Irish spongc, from Latin spongia sponge

First Known Use

Noun

1582, in the meaning defined at sense 1a

Verb

1840, in the meaning defined above

Rhymes for spunk

• bunk
• chunk
• clunk
• drunk
• dunk
• hunk
• junk
• punk
• shrunk
• slunk
• sunk
• trunk

Kids Definition

spunk

noun

ˈspəŋk

1

: courage, pluck

2

: spirit entry 1 sense 4

Etymology

Noun

from earlier spunk "tinder," from Scottish Gaelic spong "sponge, tinder," from Latin spongia "sponge"

Word Origin

Spunk now means "spirit, readiness to fight against odds, courage." It is somewhat surprising to learn that it comes from a Latin word for something that seems quite the opposite: "sponge." The Latin word for "sponge," spongia, came into Scottish Gaelic, the Celtic language of the Scottish Highlands, as spong and meant "sponge." But it also came to mean "tinder," the light, dry material used to start a fire. Tinder was often dry, spongy wood that would ignite easily and looked like sponge. A person who fought courageously and without complaining, especially against strong opponents, was thought of as catching fire. This flaring up of the human spirit was compared to the bursting into flame of tinder. Thus, a person who had this quality was said to have spunk.