Phrase guide

gunk up

verb · 1 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

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1

verb

Meaning 1

To soil or dirty; to mess up; to clog.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: informal, transitive

Examples

  • I don't want to gunk up my new shoes, so I'll wear the old ones in the garden.
  • The sandpaper strips off the old green paint, but it gunks up quickly.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: befoul, gunk, foul, jam, assoil, beclart, bedaub, bedirty, imbrue (especially with blood), bedizen, befile, befilth, begrime, beray, beshit, besmear, besmirch, besully, bewray, blacken, blot, blur, clat, contaminate, darken, defile, dirten, dirty, elt, file, foil, gunk up, inquinate, scunge, sling mud, slotter, slur, smear, smirch, smudge, smut, smutch, soil, soss, sowl, spot, stain, sullow, sully, tarnish, uggle, barricade, block, choke, clog, close off, cumber, forslow, forwork, hamper, hinder, impede, interfere, interrupt, intervene, obstruct, obturate, occlude, plug, roadblock, seal, stonewall, thwart, yield

Antonyms: none provided

History

Etymology

No etymology was provided for this word.