pukka
/ˈpəkə/
Word Rarity
Very rare
Frequency: Zipf frequency 1.91 in modern English
15
Scrabble Score
5
Letters
2
Syllables
4
Unique Chars
Meaning
adj
Constructed as a permanent building, with high-quality materials (especially fired clay bricks and tiles as opposed to unfired mud and thatch).
Example Sentences
- "Maha Rajah said it was necessary to witness it to make it pukka; and they said so too, and then signed it."
- "The measures which resulted in the crushing of the mutiny within the Five Rivers, were unquestionably pukka. […] Pukka and kucha statesmanship are, indeed, two things which time rarely fails to detect, just as it tries the durability of a public building or a bridge."
- "Mrs. S[mart].— […] Are you not aware, Fanny, that he [Lieut. Marsden] is only Acting-Assistant Sub-Deputy Inspector? Do you imagine that I should give my child to a man whose appointment was not pucka? / F[anny].—But, Mamma, is Mr. Cholmondeley's appointment pucka? / Mrs. S.—How can you talk such nonsense, child? […] Mr. Cholmondeley is a landed gentleman, and draws twelve thousand rupees a month from his estates in Derbyshire, besides holding Government paper to a large amount."
- "'No one else here?' he said. 'I thought we were going to have a pukka consultation with all the crowd present – decorations, banners, and salute of guns!'"
- "But let's assume it's a real pukka rare bird."
- "Among [Max] Le Blond's exhortations was the need for Singapore theatre to internalise "the conviction that our lives as Singaporeans possess the same theatrical validity, […] [as] the English literary tradition"[…]. This would involve ridding ourselves of a residual colonial consciousness, even at the subliminal level, and revising our perception of the vernacular idiom and local accents, hitherto regarded as non-pukka."
Etymology
From Hindi पक्का (pakkā, “certain, sure”), Punjabi ਪੱਕਾ (pakkā, “mature, ripe; cooked; strong, substantial; genuine, sound, true, valid”) and Urdu پکا (pakkā, “mature, ripe; cooked; strong, substantial; genuine, sound, true, valid”), from Sanskrit पक्व (pakva, “baked, cooked, roasted”), from पचति (pacati, “to bake, cook, roast”).
Origin
Word Breakdown
- Root: पक्का, ਪੱਕਾ, پکا, पक्व
Regional Pronunciation
- American English: /ˈpəkə/
- British English: /ˈpʌkə/
Usage
Inflected Forms
more pukka (comparative)
most pukka (superlative)
pacca (alternative)
pakka (alternative)
pucka (alternative)
pucca (alternative)