grok

American  

[grok] / grɒk /

verb (used with object)

1. to understand thoroughly and intuitively.

   The code is simple enough that you should be able to grok what it does.

---

verb (used without object)

1. to communicate sympathetically.

Etymology

Origin of grok

Coined by Robert A. Heinlein in the science-fiction novel Stranger in a Strange Land (1961)

Explanation

When you grok something, you just get it — in other words, you totally grasp its meaning. Once you grok your best friend's sense of humor, her jokes won't confuse you but will instead make you laugh hysterically. The informal verb grok was an invention of the science fiction writer Robert A. Heinlein, whose 1961 novel Stranger in a Strange Land placed great importance on the concept of grokking. In the book, to grok is to empathize so deeply with others that you merge or blend with them. The simplest way to think of grok is as truly, deeply understanding someone or something. With any luck, you now grok the word grok.

Example Sentences

While it may be hard to grok those numbers, it’s obvious they were at the very least good enough to convince investors to come together for a Series A round.

From The Verge • Jul. 21, 2021

To understand Colombo, one needs to first grok how small it is—not just in terms of size, but in terms of community, Colombo is one of those places where everybody knows everybody else.

From Slate • Apr. 25, 2019

I alone could grok and conjugate Todbaum’s sensibility, and, besides, he had a place picked out for us in Burbank.

From The New Yorker • Feb. 25, 2019

Still, I think many Oscar voters won’t quite grok the difference between these sound categories, and they’ll simply pick “Bohemian Rhapsody” for both.

From New York Times • Feb. 21, 2019

Contrast grok, which connotes a time-extended version of zenning a system.

From The Jargon File, Version 4.2.2, 20 Aug 2000 by Steele, Guy L.