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View synonyms for folk

folk

[fohk]

noun

  1. (used with a plural verb),  Usually folks. people in general.

    Folks say there wasn't much rain last summer.

  2. (used with a plural verb),  Often folks. people of a specified class or group.

    country folk; poor folks.

  3. (used with a plural verb),  people as the carriers of culture, especially as representing the composite of social mores, customs, forms of behavior, etc., in a society.

    The folk are the bearers of oral tradition.

  4. Informal.,  folks,

    1. members of one's family; one's relatives.

      All his folks come from France.

    2. one's parents.

      Will your folks let you go?

    Synonyms: tribe, clan, people, kin, kinfolk
  5. Archaic.,  a people or tribe.



adjective

  1. of or originating among the common people.

    folk beliefs; a folk hero.

  2. having unknown origins and reflecting the traditional forms of a society.

    folk culture; folk art.

folk

/ fəʊk /

noun

  1. (functioning as plural; often plural in form) people in general, esp those of a particular group or class

    country folk

  2. informal,  (functioning as plural; usually plural in form) members of a family

  3. informal,  (functioning as singular) short for folk music

  4. a people or tribe

  5. (modifier) relating to, originating from, or traditional to the common people of a country

    a folk song

“Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged” 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
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Other Word Forms

  • folkish adjective
  • folkishness noun
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Word History and Origins

Origin of folk1

before 900; Middle English; Old English folc; cognate with Old Saxon, Old Norse folk, Old High German folk ( German Volk )
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Word History and Origins

Origin of folk1

Old English folc ; related to Old Saxon, Old Norse, Old High German folk
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Idioms and Phrases

Idioms
  1. just folks, (of persons) simple, unaffected, unsophisticated, or open-hearted people.

    He enjoyed visiting his grandparents because they were just folks.

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Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

One local replies that Port William is so seemingly timeless that folks didn’t know where the river would go when they built it.

Seminal American folk singer Woody Guthrie, who was a pivotal supporting character in last year’s “A Complete Unknown,” had a biopic all to himself in this lyrical drama directed by the great Hal Ashby.

Read more on Los Angeles Times

Kids scrambled up rehabbed trails, and some danced the schuhplattler, a Bavarian folk dance with lots of foot stomping and thigh and foot slapping.

Read more on Los Angeles Times

“I heard in Tehama County ... folks saying, ‘Look, we care about the environment, but we can’t have electric school buses here.

Read more on Los Angeles Times

Talking to folk around town, there is a deep-seated frustration.

Read more on BBC

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Related Words

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.

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