greek
/ɡɹiːk/
greek is the alternative letter-case form of Greek.
Verb (1)
greek (third-person singular simple present greeks, present participle greeking, simple past and past participle greeked)
- To display a placeholder (instead of text), especially to optimize speed in displaying text that would be too small to read.
- You can specify the type size below which text will be greeked in the Preferences dialog box. Designers often prefer to use greeked text in rough layouts because it helps the client focus on the design rather than on the words.1991, Ronnie Shushan, Don Wright, Desktop Publishing by Design, 2nd edition, Redmond, Wash.: Microsoft Press, →OCLC
- If text gets smaller than this value, [Adobe] Illustrator shows the text blocks as gray bars, an operation called greeking. Both type size and view size figure into the equation, so that 6-point type greeks at 100-percent view size and 12-point type greeks at 50 percent. Greeking speeds the screen...2002, Deke McClelland, “The Interface”, in Real World Adobe Illustrator 10, Berkeley, Calif.: Peachpit Press, →ISBN, pages 46–47
- To fill a template with nonsense text (particularly the Lorem ipsum), so that form can be focused on instead of content.
- To obscure a corporate logo that has not been permitted for use in a production.
Adjective capitalized: Greek
Greek (comparative Greeker, superlative Greekest)
- Of or relating to Greece, its people, its language, or its culture.
- Ikey the blacksmith had forged us a spearhead after a sketch from a picture of a Greek warrior; and a rake-handle served as a shaft.1879, R[ichard] J[efferies], chapter II, in The Amateur Poacher, London: Smith, Elder, & Co., […], →OCLC
- Sanskrit, Greek, Slavonic, Germanic, and Celtic names were all of this type, but there are also shorter names formed from the compound ones; […].1945, E[lizabeth] G[idley] Withycombe, “Introduction”, in The Oxford Dictionary of English Christian Names, Oxford, Oxfordshire: Clarendon Press, →OCLC, page xii
- Synonym of incomprehensible, used for foreign speech or text, technical jargon, or advanced subjects.
- Synonyms:
- incomprehensible, used for foreign speech or text, technical jargon, or advanced subjects, Grecian, Greco-, Hellenic, Helleno-
- Of or relating to collegiate fraternities, sororities, or (uncommon) honor societies.
- “Every single person is going to have a different experience watching this film,” she said when I asked about possibly labeling the Greek system as “toxic”.2023 May 24, Adrian Horton, “‘Competitive femininity’: inside the wild and secretive world of sororities”, in The Guardian, →ISSN, archived from the original on 10 Jun 2023
Proper noun capitalized: Greek
Greek (countable and uncountable, plural Greeks)
- The language spoken by people of Greece, particularly, depending on context, Ancient Greek or Modern Greek.
- For it is vain and foolish to talk of knowing Greek, since in our ignorance we should be at the bottom of any class of schoolboys, since we do not know how the words sounded, or where precisely we ought to laugh, or how the actors acted, and between this foreign people and ourselves there is not...1925, Virginia Woolf, “On Not Knowing Greek”, in [Leonard Woolf], editor, Collected Essays, volume I, London: Hogarth Press, published 1966, →OCLC, page 1
- It’s one that I would personally endorse: My individual circumstances were such that, by the age of 12, I could speak German, Greek and English, so languages became my passion and my hobby.2021 April 25, John Malathronas, “Which languages are easiest – and most difficult – for native English speakers to learn?”, in CNN, archived from the original on 22 Mar 2022
- The written form of these languages.
- A surname.
Noun capitalized: Greek
Greek (countable and uncountable, plural Greeks)
- A person from Greece or of Greek descent.
- The Greeks believed the sun went round the earth.
- Greek cuisine, traditional or representative Greek food.
- Synonym of gibberish, used for foreign speech or text, technical jargon, or advanced subjects.
- "I don't hear one word in ten that they say," continued Mrs. Abingdon; "it's Greek to me. However, ..."1821, Mary Jane Mackenzie, Geraldine, page 8
- "It's all Greek to me," said my companion at the outset, but as the warrior continued, his fears arose within him; it might be sentence of death—what did he know what it might not be?1859, Kinahan Cornwallis, Two Journeys to Japan, 1856–7, volume 2, page 246
- Synonyms:
- gibberish, used for foreign speech or text, technical jargon, or advanced subjects
- Synonym of lorem ipsum, dummy placeholder text used in greeking.
- Synonyms:
- lorem ipsum, dummy placeholder text used in greeking
- A member of a collegiate fraternity or sorority.
- Was Joe a Greek in college?
- A cunning rogue.
- The wind-up is, that the father becomes bankrupt; the wife and daughters town-traders; the sons Greeks, Fancy-swells, Conveyancers (pickpockets), or Cracksmen (house breakers), and the New Drop is the last drop they ever take.1822, A Morning in Cork-Street: or, Raising the wind, page 102
- When Greek meets Greek neither is wont to get much satisfaction.1897, Stanley John Weyman, “The Deanery Ball”, in For the Cause
- A merry fellow.
- Anal sex.
- She is absolutely a total GFE, no limits, except no Greek. (Well...I say “no Greek” - - if she is really hot for you, and if she is really turned on in a long session, she might beg for a finger in her anus while you suck her clit, but she is just too tiny and tight for any “real meat” in the...2001, "ASP: 'Julie' of Oral-Land-Oh", alt.sex.prostitution, Usenet
- “What's within reason?” “Hand-job, blow-job, full sex — straight, full service. Greek, maybe, if you're not too big. Golden shower, if you like, but not reverse. No hardsports. And absolutely nothing without.”2012, Maxim Jakubowski, The Best British Crime Omnibus
- Synonyms:
- anal sex
- One of the Greeks, measures of derivative price sensitivity.
Verb (2) capitalized: Greek
Greek (third-person singular simple present Greeks, present participle Greeking, simple past and past participle Greeked)
- To cheat at cards.
- A discovery of Greeking at Brighton, has made considerable noise this month in the sporting world.1817, Sporting Magazine, number 50, page 284
- Alternative letter-case form of greek.
Synonyms of greek
- incomprehensible
- used for foreign speech or text
- technical jargon
- or advanced subjects
- Grecian
- Greco-
- Hellenic
- Helleno-
- gibberish
- lorem ipsum
Forms of greek
| Noun | |
|---|---|
| plural | greeks |
| plural | Greeks |
| Verb | |
| third-person singular present | greeks |
| present participle | greeking |
| past participle | greeked |
| past | greeked |
| third-person singular present | Greeks |
| present participle | Greeking |
| past participle | Greeked |
| past | Greeked |
| Adjective | |
| comparative | Greeker |
| superlative | Greekest |
| alternative abbreviation | Gr. |
| alternative form (obsolete) | Greeke |
| Proper noun | |
| plural | Greeks |
Origin of greek
Probably from Greek (“unintelligible speech or text”).
Inherited from Old English Grēcas (“Greeks”), variant of Crēcas, from Proto-West Germanic *Krēkō, from Latin Graecus of uncertain origin, perhaps derived from the toponym Γραῖα (Graîa) or from other Paleo-Balkanic forms from a tribal name Graii. Greek in any case has the cognate Γραικός (Graikós), the mythological ancestor of the Γραίοι (Graíoi, “Graecians”). Germanic cognates include Dutch Griek, German Grieche. The ⟨g⟩ in English and Germanic cognates was restored under influence from French grec and classical Latin Graecus. The adjective dates to 14th-century Middle English, replacing Old English Grēċisċ (“Greekish”) and earlier Middle English Gregeis. In reference to fraternities and sororities, a clipping of earlier Greek-letter in reference to their usual names being initialisms of mottos in the Greek language. In reference to terms used to analysize financial derivatives, from their usual names consisting of Greek letters.
Words formed from greek
- Greek alphabet
- Greek arts
- Greek calends
- Greek Catholic
- Greek Catholicism
- Greek chorus
- Greek Christian Scriptures
- Greek cross
- Greekery
- Greekesque
- Greek Fathers
- Greek foot
- Greek fret
- Greek fries
- Greek god
- Greek house
- Greekification
- Greekify
- Greekish
- Greekize
- Greek key
- Greek letter
- Greek life
- Greeklike
- Greek love
- Greekly
- Greekness
- Greek number
- Greek numeral
- Greek Orthodox
- Greek Orthodox Church
- Greek Orthodoxy
- Greek People's Liberation Army
- Greek pitch
- Greek salad
- Greek Sign Language
- Greek system
- Greek yoghurt
- Aeolic Greek
- Ancient Greek
- Arcadocypriot Greek
- Archaic Greek
- Attic Greek
- Byzantine Greek
- Cappadocian Greek
- Classical Greek
- Demotic Greek
- Doric Greek
- Epic Greek
- Greekless
- Greeklish
- Hellenistic Greek
- Homeric Greek
- Indo-Greek
- Ionic Greek
- it's all Greek to me
- Koine Greek
- Late Greek
- Mariupol Greek
- medical Greek
Phrases with greek
- greek it
- New Greek
- Old Greek
- Greek feet
- Greek fire
- Greek gift
- Greek gods
- Greek keys
- Greek frets
- Greek gifts
- Greek pizza
- Greek active
27 more phrasesFewer phrases
- Greek houses
- Greek pizzas
- Greek salads
- Greek yogurt
- Middle Greek
- Modern Greek
- purist Greek
- Greek crosses
- Greek kalends
- Greek numbers
- Greek passive
- Greek yogurts
- Greek choruses
- Greek numerals
- Greek tortoise
- Greek yoghurts
- Medieval Greek
- Mediæval Greek
- Greek alphabets
- Greek Catholics
- Mediaeval Greek
- Mycenaean Greek
- St Giles' Greek
- it's Greek to me
- St. Giles's Greek
- that's Greek to me
- that's all Greek to me
Words that rhyme with greek
48 more rhymesFewer rhymes
- seek
- bespeak
- pique
- tweak
- reek
- sleek
- geek
- peek
- squeak
- week
- wreak
- boutique
- clique
- creek
- forspeak
- gleek
- unique
- bleak
- cacique
- creak
- critique
- deke
- eek
- eke
- fleak
- on fleek
- respeak
- Tajik
- teak
- technique
- tongue-in-chic
- chic
- cleek
- desqueak
- leek
- malik
- meek
- midweek
- misspeak
- physique
- pratique
- shriek
- speke
- streek
- Zeke
- -speak
- Adam's Peak
- advertique
Questions about greek
- What does greek mean?
- Greek means to display a placeholder (instead of text), especially to optimize speed in displaying text that would be too small to read.
- What is greek the alternative letter-case form of?
- Greek is the alternative letter-case form of Greek.
- What part of speech is greek?
- Greek can be a verb, an adjective, a proper noun or a noun.
- How do you pronounce greek?
- Greek is pronounced /ɡɹiːk/.
- What is the past tense of greek?
- The past tense of greek is greeked.
Words near greek in the dictionary
Source and license
Adapted from Wiktionary: greek (page history and authors); Greek (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.
Last updated:
Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: LL-Q1860 (eng)-Flame, not lame-greek.wav.
Cite this entry: “greek.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/greek. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.