Colloquial Variant guide

anorak

noun · 3 senses · updated from the 2026-07-25 local source snapshot

Definitions and examples are grouped by meaning. Pronunciation, history, word forms, translations, descendants, synonyms, antonyms, derived terms, and related words appear whenever the source provides them.

Sound

Pronunciation

Each Play button uses your device's default local English voice, or a natural local fallback. The selected voice name appears after playback. This is synthesized speech, not a source recording.

  • /ˈænəɹæk/
  • General-American: Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.
  • Australia: Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.
  • CMU ARPABET: AE1 N ER0 AE2 K Digits mark lexical stress: 1 primary, 2 secondary, 0 unstressed.

1

noun

Meaning 1

A heavy weatherproof jacket with an attached hood; a parka or windcheater.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

2

noun

Meaning 2

A person with an unusual or obsessive interest in a niche subject, especially trains.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: UK, slang

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

Narrower terms: geek, nerd, otaku

3

noun

Meaning 3

a kind of heavy jacket (`windcheater' is a British term)

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: parka, windbreaker, windcheater

Antonyms: none provided

Broader terms: jacket

Narrower terms: cagoule, ski parka, ski jacket

History

Etymology

* Borrowed from Greenlandic annoraaq. * (person with obsessive interest): Originally referring to train spotters (because they would wear anoraks while looking out for trains).

Across languages

Translations

35 source translations are retained for this English entry.

  • Afrikaans: anorak — heavy weatherproof jacket
  • Afrikaans: windbaajie — heavy weatherproof jacket
  • Afrikaans: parka — heavy weatherproof jacket
  • Catalan: anorac — heavy weatherproof jacket
  • Chinese Mandarin: 皮猴兒 /皮猴儿 (píhóur) — heavy weatherproof jacket
  • Czech: bunda — heavy weatherproof jacket
  • Czech: zimní bunda — heavy weatherproof jacket
  • Danish: anorak — heavy weatherproof jacket
  • Esperanto: anorako — heavy weatherproof jacket
  • Faroese: anorakkur — heavy weatherproof jacket
  • Finnish: anorakki — heavy weatherproof jacket
  • French: anorak — heavy weatherproof jacket
  • German: Anorak — heavy weatherproof jacket
  • Greek: άνορακ (ánorak) — heavy weatherproof jacket
  • Hungarian: anorák — heavy weatherproof jacket
  • Indonesian: anorak — heavy weatherproof jacket
  • Italian: giacca a vento — heavy weatherproof jacket
  • Japanese: アノラック (anorakku) — heavy weatherproof jacket
  • Korean: 아노락 (anorak) — heavy weatherproof jacket
  • Norwegian Bokmål: anorakk — heavy weatherproof jacket
  • Norwegian Nynorsk: anorakk — heavy weatherproof jacket
  • Polish: anorak — heavy weatherproof jacket
  • Portuguese: quispo — heavy weatherproof jacket
  • Portuguese: anoraque — heavy weatherproof jacket
  • Russian: анора́к (anorák) — heavy weatherproof jacket
  • Russian: ветро́вка (vetróvka) — heavy weatherproof jacket
  • Scottish Gaelic: anarag — heavy weatherproof jacket
  • Slovene: anorak — heavy weatherproof jacket
  • Spanish: anorak — heavy weatherproof jacket
  • Swedish: anorak — heavy weatherproof jacket
  • Welsh: anorac — heavy weatherproof jacket
  • Welsh: anoracs — heavy weatherproof jacket
  • German: Sonderling — geek or nerd
  • German: Eigenbrötler — geek or nerd
  • German: schrullige Person — geek or nerd