greek

adjective · noun · verb

Simple meaning

Relating to Greece, its people, language, or culture

Pronunciation

Say it like this:

greek

US device voice

IPA pronunciation (US)

ˈɡɹik

This word is pronounced essentially the same in American and British English, so one transcription covers both.

IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) is a standard way of writing speech sounds.

Word Review

Definition

Everyday modern meanings first, grouped by part of speech.

adjective

Of or relating to Greece, its people, its language, or its culture.
Of or relating to or characteristic of Greece or the Greeks or the Greek language

noun

The language spoken by people of Greece, particularly, depending on context, Ancient Greek or Modern Greek.
The written form of these languages.
Alternative letter-case form of Greek ("nonsense writing or talk; gibberish").
countable
A person from Greece or of Greek descent.
uncountable
Greek cuisine, traditional or representative Greek food.

verb

transitive
To obscure a corporate logo that has not been permitted for use in a production.

Word at a Glance

Difficulty: A2 · Elementary (estimated)
Frequency: Common
Typical Use: Everyday English

Word Aura™

How this word commonly comes across.

Aura for this meaning

This meaning: Of or relating to Greece, its people, its language, or its culture.

Used this way, greek is a reasonably familiar word that usually carries little praise or criticism of its own. It usually sounds natural in a wide range of settings.

Emotional tone: Neutral
Formality: Neutral
Intensity: Not strongly marked
How common: Moderately common
Connotation: No strong connotation
Usage feel: Neutral and straightforward

Word Aura describes common impressions, not a measurement. Tone changes with sentence, speaker, relationship and situation.

More ways to use greek

“We ordered some delicious Greek food for dinner last night.”adjective

Common Patterns and Combinations

How this word naturally appears with others.

Relating / language

greek culture

Alternative

greek literature

Other combinations

greek wordgreek textgreek city

Tap the highlighted word to open its own entry.

Word Family

Related forms, grouped by how they connect.

Compound terms

Established multiword terms.

greek alphabetnounCompound term
The alphabet used by ancient Greeks.
greek architecturenounCompound term
The architecture of ancient Greece.
greek catholicnounCompound term
A member of the Greek Orthodox Church.
greek chorusnounCompound term
A company of actors who comment (by speaking or singing in unison) on the action in a classical Greek play.
greek clovernounCompound term
Annual herb or southern Europe and eastern Asia having off-white flowers and aromatic seeds used medicinally and in curry.
greek crossnounCompound term
A cross with each of the four arms the same length.

Related Words

Connected to the same idea, not synonyms.

mythologynoun
alphabetnoun
latinnoun
hebrewnoun

More about this wordSynonyms, forms, origin

Synonyms

adjective

Sense: of or relating to Greece or its people

hellenicgrecianArchaic

noun

Sense: language spoken by people of Greece or particularly

hellenicgrecianArchaichelleneRare

Use This Word

See how this word sounds in a real sentence.

Ask Vocabaura

Understand the word your way.

What Does It Mean Here?

Words can change meaning depending on context.

Use it yourself

Knowing “greek” starts when you use it. Pick a next step, all free.

Know the meaning? Practice using it in a real situation, free, no credits.

Dictionary data from Wiktionary via the Free Dictionary API. Simple meanings, combinations and word intelligence are built from verified reference data, no AI is used to load this page.