Word.ws English Dictionary

pooka

/ˈpuːkə/

pooka noun: a fairy that supposedly appears in animal form, often large.

Noun (1)

pooka (plural pookas)

  1. A fairy that supposedly appears in animal form, often large.
    • The pooka had befriended the kindly old man.
    • The Pooka is an animal of which, partly from the darkness of the night, and partly from the darkness that he carries about with him, the precise outline, especially of the head and neck, can never be distinguished.1833 July, “Laurie on Grand Juries”, in The Westminster Review - Volume 19, page 88

Noun (2)

pooka (plural pookas)

  1. A convenient storage location or hiding spot created by the arrangement or form of surrounding objects

Examples of pooka in a sentence

  • This is certain; Moggy was by no means so great a fool as Betty in respect of hobgoblins, witches, banshees, pookas, and the world of spirits in general.1863, Sheridan Le Fanu, The House by the Churchyard:
  • When the blackberries begin to decay, and the seeds to appear, the children are told not to eat them any longer, as the Pooka has dirtied on them.1850, Thomas Keightley, The Fairy Mythology, London: H.G. Bohn, page 371:
  • The pooka appears here and there, now and then, to this one and that one.1944, Mary Chase, Harvey (play):

Forms of pooka

pluralpookas
alternative formphooka
alternative formphouka

Origin of pooka

From Old Irish púca (“goblin, sprite”), perhaps from a (nearly) identical Old Irish form, ultimately from Old English pūca (“demon”). Doublet of bucca and puck.

Borrowed from Hawaiian puka (“hole”).

Phrases with pooka

Words that rhyme with pooka

Questions about pooka

What does pooka mean?
Pooka means a fairy that supposedly appears in animal form, often large.
How do you use pooka in a sentence?
This is certain; Moggy was by no means so great a fool as Betty in respect of hobgoblins, witches, banshees, pookas, and the world of spirits in general.
What part of speech is pooka?
Pooka is a noun.
How do you pronounce pooka?
Pooka is pronounced /ˈpuːkə/.
What is the plural of pooka?
The plural of pooka is pookas.

Words near pooka in the dictionary

  1. poojaris
  2. poojas
  3. poojeet
  4. poojeets
  5. Pook
  6. pooka
  7. pookah
  8. pookahs
  9. pookas
  10. pookaun
  11. pookauns

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: pooka (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.

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