pukka
adjective
Simple meaning
Genuine or authentic.
Pronunciation
Say it like this:
pyookuhSay the bold part a little louder.
IPA pronunciation (US)
ˈpjukə
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.
Definition
Everyday modern meanings first, grouped by part of speech.
adjective
britishslang
Superior or of high quality; first-class; excellent.
originally south asia
Genuine or authentic; hence of behaviour: correct, socially acceptable or proper.
South Asia
Constructed as a permanent building, with high-quality materials (especially fired clay bricks and tiles as opposed to unfired mud and thatch).
Word Aura™
How this word commonly comes across.
Aura for this meaning
This meaning: Superior or of high quality; first-class; excellent.
Used this way, pukka is a word tied to one variety of English with a clearly warm, approving pull. It turns up most in everyday conversation and social media or informal writing contexts.
- Emotional tone
- Positive
- Formality
- Very casual
- Intensity
- Moderate
- How common
- Regional
- Connotation
- Positive and appreciative
- Usage feel
- Playful and informal
Where it naturally appears
- Everyday conversation
- Social media/informal writing
Usage note
Mainly used in British English, so it may read as unusual elsewhere.
Word Aura describes common impressions, not a measurement. Tone changes with sentence, speaker, relationship and situation.
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Common Patterns and Combinations
How this word naturally appears with others.
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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.