Greek

Language: en

🇬🇧 /ˈgriːk/ 🇺🇸 /ˈgriːk/

📖 Definitions

  1. noun
    A native or inhabitant of Greece, or a person of Greek descent.; The language of the ancient Greeks, or the modern language spoken in Greece.; A member of a fraternity or sorority, especially in a North American college or university.; A person who is clever or cunning, often in a deceptive way; a swindler.; A person who is unintelligible or incomprehensible in speech or writing.
  2. adjective
    Of or relating to Greece, its people, language, or culture.; Of or relating to the Greek Orthodox Church.; Of or relating to fraternities and sororities in North American colleges.
  3. noun
    The Greek alphabet, used in mathematics and science to denote variables and constants.
  4. adjective
    Incomprehensible or unintelligible; meaningless.

🔗 Details

Word forms

countable / uncountable Plural: Greeks

Collocations

ancient Greekmodern GreekGreek mythologyGreek alphabetGreek tragedyGreek saladGreek Orthodox

Derivatives

GreeceHellenicHellenisticGraeco-Greco-

Synonyms

HellenicHellenistic

Commonly confused

Greece
EN: 'Greece' is the country (proper noun); 'Greek' is the adjective, language, or demonym for a person from Greece.
Graeco-/Greco-
EN: 'Graeco-' is the British/Latin spelling of the combining form; 'Greco-' is the American/Italian-influenced variant. Both mean 'Greek'.

Spelling tips

EN: 'Greek' must always be capitalized as it is derived from a proper noun. Do not confuse the adjective 'Greek' with the country name 'Greece'.

💬 Examples

  1. The Greeks were known for their contributions to philosophy and democracy.

  2. She is studying Ancient Greek at the university.

  3. He became a Greek during his sophomore year at college.

  4. He's a regular Greek when it comes to making deals.

  5. The technical manual was all Greek to me.

  6. Greek mythology has influenced Western literature for centuries.

  7. They attended a Greek Orthodox wedding ceremony.

  8. Greek life is very active on this campus.

  9. In physics, lambda is a Greek letter used to represent wavelength.

  10. The legal jargon in the contract was Greek to most of the attendees.