funk

noun

/fʌŋk/

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[uncountable] a type of dance music with a strong rhythm, developed by African American musicians in the 1960s see also jazz funkTopics Musicc2
(also blue funk)
[singular] (old-fashioned, informal) a state of fear or worry
[countable, usually singular] (North American English) a strong unpleasant smell

Word Originnoun early 17th cent. (in the sense ‘musty smell’): perhaps from French dialect funkier ‘blow smoke on’, based on Latin fumus ‘smoke’.

verb

/fʌŋk/

(British English, old-fashioned, informal)

Verb Forms

present simple I / you / we / they funk	/fʌŋk/ /fʌŋk/
he / she / it funks	/fʌŋks/ /fʌŋks/
past simple funked	/fʌŋkt/ /fʌŋkt/
past participle funked	/fʌŋkt/ /fʌŋkt/
-ing form funking	/ˈfʌŋkɪŋ/ /ˈfʌŋkɪŋ/

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funk something to avoid doing something because you are afraid to or find it difficult
Word Originverb mid 18th cent. (first recorded as Oxford University slang): perhaps from funk in the slang sense ‘tobacco smoke’, or from obsolete Flemish fonck ‘disturbance, agitation’.