quirk
/kwɝk/
Word Rarity
Rare
Frequency: Zipf frequency 3.13 in modern English
18
Scrabble Score
5
Letters
1
Syllables
5
Unique Chars
Meaning
noun
An idiosyncrasy; a slight glitch, a mannerism; something unusual about the manner or style of something or someone.
noun
An acute angle dividing a molding; a groove that runs lengthwise between the upper part of a molding and a soffit.
verb
Alternative form of querk.
Example Sentences
- "The car steers cleanly, but the gearshift has a few quirks."
- "Had you no quirk / To avoid gullage, sir, by such a creature?"
- "Let us not be too curious in prying into Gods arke, leaſt vve ſmart like the flie fluttering about the candle, for God is a conſuming fire to thoſe that vvill be ſporting themſelves in the quirks of their vvit about his ſacred myſteries."
- "He quirked an eyebrow."
- "The corners of her mouth quirked."
- "He quirked his lips playfully."
Etymology
First attested in the 1540s. Of uncertain origin. Possibly from Middle English *querk, from Old Norse kverk (“a bend or angle, especially below a cross-beam or below the chin, the bight of an axe", also "throat, gullet”), from Proto-Germanic *kwerkō (“throat, gullet”), from Proto-Indo-European *gʷerh₃- (“to devour; maw”). Cognate with Scots querk (“throat", also "any hollow in the body, such as an armpit, groin, instep, etc.”), Icelandic kverk (“interior angle”). Also partially from dialectal quirk, querk (“a whim, fancy, fuss, huff, complaint", also "to peevishly grumble, grunt, sigh, croak, die”), from Middle English querken, *quirken (“to choke”), from Old Norse kvirkja (“to choke, strangle”), from the same origin above. Related to dialectal querken, quirken (“to choke”). Likely not related to queer.
Origin
Word Breakdown
Regional Pronunciation
- American English: /kwɝk/
- British English: /kwɜːk/