twerk
UK/twɜːk/US/twɜɹk/
twerk noun: synonym of twerking (“a sexually-provocative dance, involving the performer thrusting their hips back from a low squatting stance while shaking their buttocks”).
Noun (1)
twerk (plural twerks)
- Synonym of twerking (“a sexually-provocative dance, involving the performer thrusting their hips back from a low squatting stance while shaking their buttocks”).
- It was the twerk that bounced around the world in less than a day. Sound bites from reporters said, “Miley Cyrus’s JAW-DROPPING TWERK-a-thon,” the “twerk-tacular,” “twerk-and-tongue work,” in the “twerk seen ’round the world!”2016, Jacqueline Warwick, Allison Adrian, editors, Voicing Girlhood in Popular Music, Routledge, →ISBN
- Synonyms:
- twerking
- A fitful movement similar to a twitch or jerk.
- "Not so the Freycineti, who looked me over critically, elevated his head crest, and giving his tail an odd little twerk, proceeded to hop deliberately up the limb like a sap-sucker..."1898, William Brigham, “Director's Report”, in Occasional Papers of the Bernice Pauahi Museum, volume 1, number 1, page 42
- "I hardly realize it yet that you are my really truly coz," and she gave the girl's long, brown braids a familiar twerk.1920, Lilian C. McNamara Garis, The Girl Scouts at Sea Crest: Or, The Wig Wag Rescue, page 86
Verb
twerk (third-person singular simple present twerks, present participle twerking, simple past and past participle twerked)
- To dance in a sexually-provocative way using hip thrusts in a low squatting stance while shaking the buttocks; to take part in twerking.
- Gaea then stood up over me and turned so that her butt was facing me. She then had the nerve to start twerking.2005, Euftis Emery, Off the Chain, →ISBN, page 73
- "Shortie really knows how to twerk it don't she?" Marcus boasted, while still recording.2006, Lawrence Christopher, Ghettoway Weekend, →ISBN, page 96
- To twitch or jerk.
- […] in the language of the unsophisticated Port Melbourne suburbanite a bed was still something primarily intended for love-making – all the eyebrow-raising and moustache-twerking in Jo'burg couldn't alter that.1985, Criena Rohan, Down by the Docks, page 151
- He twerked an eyebrow at his wife.2005, Florence Hall Abssi, The Call, page 613
Noun (2)
twerk (plural twerks)
- A puny or insignificant person, generally male; a twerp.
- "'...but when they load a pack onto you, what'll you do? A little twerk like you?'"1930, Walter Dumaux Edmonds, The Big Barn, page 207
- "But even then the poor twerk's whiskers and little eyes looked kind of wistful as if the clothes had got him and was taking him somewhere..."1932, Forum and Century, volume 87
Noun (3)
twerk (plural twerks)
- An abrupt call, such as that made by the California quail.
- Note of male on territory, a loud kurr or twerk.1961, Roger Tory Peterson, A Field Guide to Western Birds, page 67
twerk meaning in Tagalog and Persian
twerk in Tagalog
- to take part in twerking (the sexually-provocative dance)
- kaldag
twerk in Persian
- to take part in twerking (the sexually-provocative dance)
- کچول, کاچول
Examples of twerk in a sentence
- With a quick twerk at her shift, the girl lifted it to her rounded belly, and squatted nakedly on his lap.1950, Robert S. Close, Love Me Sailor, page 86:
- Let me see what ya twerkin with / Look at those hips2006, “SexyBack”, in FutureSex/LoveSounds, performed by Justin Timberlake ft. Timbaland:
- You don't need those twerks who walk in off the street.2003, Bernard Kamoroff, Small Time Operator, →ISBN, page 19:
Synonyms of twerk
Forms of twerk
| Noun | |
|---|---|
| plural | twerks |
| Verb | |
| third-person singular present | twerks |
| present participle | twerking |
| past participle | twerked |
| past | twerked |
Origin of twerk
Blend of twitch + jerk. The "sexually-provocative dance" sense was particularly popularized since c. 2000 by hip-hop from the United States of America, and again in 2013 by singer Miley Cyrus.
Blend of twerp + jerk, found primarily in the 1930s-era works of Walter Dumaux Edmonds.
Onomatopoeic, possibly coined by Roger Tory Peterson.
Words formed from twerk
Words that rhyme with twerk
Questions about twerk
- What does twerk mean?
- Twerk means synonym of twerking (“a sexually-provocative dance, involving the performer thrusting their hips back from a low squatting stance while shaking their buttocks”).
- What is twerk in Tagalog?
- Twerk in Tagalog is kaldag. See Twerk meaning in Tagalog.
- How do you use twerk in a sentence?
- With a quick twerk at her shift, the girl lifted it to her rounded belly, and squatted nakedly on his lap.
- What part of speech is twerk?
- Twerk can be a noun or a verb.
- How do you pronounce twerk?
- Twerk is pronounced /twɜɹk/ (US).
- What is the plural of twerk?
- The plural of twerk is twerks.
Words near twerk in the dictionary
Source and license
Adapted from Wiktionary: twerk (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: En-au-twerk.ogg.
Cite this entry: “twerk.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/twerk. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.