from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.
transitive verb To understand profoundly through intuition or empathy.
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.
verb transitive, slang To have or to have acquired an intuitiveunderstanding of; to know (something) without having to think (such as knowing the number of objects in a collection without needing to count them: see subitize).
verb transitive, slang To fully and completely understand something in all its details and intricacies.
from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.
verb get the meaning of something
Etymologies
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition
[Coined by Robert A. Heinlein in his Stranger in a Strange Land.]
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License
Coined by Robert A. Heinlein in his novel Stranger in a Strange Land (1961) in which the word is described as being from the word for “to drink” and, figuratively, “to drink in all available aspects of reality”, “to become one with the observed” in Heinlein’s fictitious Martian language.
Support
Help support Wordnik (and make this page ad-free) by adopting the word grok.
Examples
For those of you who read Robert Heinlein, you will realize that I stole the term grok from his novel, Strangers In A Strange Land, which was practically required reading for hippies.
For those of you who read Robert Heinlein, you will realize that I stole the term grok from his novel, Strangers In A Strange Land, which was practically required reading for hippies.
I actually think that this is part of the secret of our success -- we write headlines like wire-service stringers, headlines that are meant to be easy to grok from a cluster of RSS links, search-results, and so on.
An emblem of this book's influence: the word "grok"--Martian for complete, instinctive understanding--has entered the language and a dictionary or two.
An emblem of this book's influence: the word "grok"--Martian for complete, instinctive understanding--has entered the language and a dictionary or two.
I might agree somewhat with whatever it is that you are trying to say if I could understand what it is you are trying to say, but unless you can fill out your thoughts into a cogent paragraph, I won't be able to 'grok' your thoughts.
What is interesting about this word choice is that I think the vast majority of Americans can follow what she is saying, but only a small percentage truly "grok" the meaning.
I'm amazed that I was only the 47th wordie to add this. Perhaps the crowd here is not as geeky as I expected. schadenfreude, however, has nearly 300 "followers"!
"It was far too busy, as always; for years there had been fender-benders at this intersection, mostly caused by people who simply couldn't grok the idea of a four-way stop where everybody took turns, and just went bashing through instead."
seanahan commented on the word grok
When I have the time, I'll post some good stuff on grok from "Stranger in a Strange Land".
December 4, 2006
born2badored commented on the word grok
Grok means to understand so throughly that the observer becomes part of that wich is observed
December 6, 2006
seanahan commented on the word grok
At its simplest, it means to eat, so the observed actually become part of observer.
December 6, 2006
uselessness commented on the word grok
I can't stand this word. I love the concept, and it definitely needs a word attached to it... but grok? It sounds like cat scat.
April 13, 2007
reesetee commented on the word grok
Yuck. Ditto, u.
April 13, 2007
bkerr commented on the word grok
Grokking grok: https://www.aprendizdetodo.com/language/?item=20070330
April 15, 2007
arby commented on the word grok
I got used to the unattractiveness of the word itself in the course of reading the book. Now I just love it.
May 7, 2007
quepol commented on the word grok
I'm amazed that I was only the 47th wordie to add this. Perhaps the crowd here is not as geeky as I expected. schadenfreude, however, has nearly 300 "followers"!
September 13, 2007
cydonian commented on the word grok
quepol, perhaps you don't, ah, grok Wordie sufficiently.
September 13, 2007
arby commented on the word grok
OMG these people scare me.
October 5, 2007
bilby commented on the word grok
"It was far too busy, as always; for years there had been fender-benders at this intersection, mostly caused by people who simply couldn't grok the idea of a four-way stop where everybody took turns, and just went bashing through instead."
- 'The Dark Half', Stephen King.
P.S. Grok is the ugliest word I can think of.
December 31, 2007
jmjarmstrong commented on the word grok
JM saw the word ‘grok’ and instantly understood
February 19, 2009
catspringer commented on the word grok
A word that has perfect meaning and so easy to say! I grok "grok".
March 2, 2009
Herkovic commented on the word grok
Coined by Robert Heinlein in Stranger in a Strange Land, grok originally connoted consumption or sustenance as well as connection.
June 9, 2009