spunk

noun \ ˈspəŋk \

|Updated on: 13 Jun 2018

Examples: spunk in a Sentence

Definition of spunk

1 a : a woody tinder : punk

b : any of various fungi used to make tinder

2 : mettle, pluck

3 : spirit, liveliness

See spunk defined for English-language learners

See spunk defined for kids

Examples of spunk in a Sentence

That little girl has a lot of spunk.
had the spunk to overcome a severe physical disability

Recent Examples of spunk from the Web

The girl who had no choice but to develop grit and spunk, to look out for herself.

— jessica knoll, Time, "Jessica Knoll's New Book, The Favorite Sister, Explores Ambition and Motherhood," 31 May 2018
Kathryn Newton displays spunk and style as the mischievous Amy.

— hal boedeker, OrlandoSentinel.com, "'Little Women': PBS honors a classic," 10 May 2018
But spunk, determination and a growing push for gentrification have brought major changes.

— New York Times, "5 New York Times Writers on What They Got Right and Wrong in the Early ’80s," 13 Apr. 2018
Still, the Sharks showed some late spunk, which pleased their coach.

— USA TODAY, "Sizzling Avs win 8th straight by holding off Sharks 5-3," 18 Jan. 2018
But both of those actors always come with rich emotional vocabularies, which adds to the level of feeling, if not the spunk.

— chris jones, chicagotribune.com, "At the Marriott's classic 'Oklahoma!,' memories of the prairie surround us," 27 Apr. 2018
Schwerm had one other memory that captures the spunk and common sense of Barbara Bush.

— jim stingl, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, "Stingl: In 1989, Barbara Bush granted ailing local boy's wish to meet White House puppies," 19 Apr. 2018
There was no Serena bombast, no Azarenka spunk, not even any Sharapova screeching.

— bill dwyre, latimes.com, "Naomi Osaka beats Daria Kasatkina to win BNP Paribas Open title," 18 Mar. 2018
Coaches and teammates loved his spunk and come-at-me demeanor, but that impetuous nature often caused more harm than good.

— nick moyle, San Antonio Express-News, "Young emerges as key rotation player when Texas needs him most," 14 Mar. 2018

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

Origin and Etymology of spunk

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

NEW! Time Traveler

First Known Use: 1582

in the meaning defined at sense 1a

See Words from the same year

spunk Synonyms

spunk

verb

Definition of spunk

spunked; spunking; spunks

intransitive verb

dialect

: to show spirit —usually used with up

First Known Use of spunk

1840

in the meaning defined above

See Words from the same year

NEW! Time Traveler

Other Dialect Terms

bespoke, boughten, lave, muchacho, nigh, thunk, toboggan

SPUNK Defined for English Language Learners

spunk

noun

Definition of spunk for English Language Learners

: spirit, courage, and determination

SPUNK Defined for Kids

spunk

noun \ ˈspəŋk \

Definition of spunk for Students

: courage, spirit

History for spunk

The English word spunk comes from spong, a word in Scottish Gaelic (the traditional language of northern Scotland) that meant “tinder” or “sponge.” This word, in turn, came from Latin spongia, “sponge.” The English word at first meant “tinder,” which is a spongy material that catches fire easily. Since the human spirit can also be thought of as catching fire, spunk came to mean “spirit.”