Pukka
[PUH-kuh]
Part of speech: adjective
Origin: Hindi, late 17th century
1.
(British informal) Genuine.
2.
Of or appropriate to high or respectable society.
Examples of Pukka in a sentence
"The clerk bit down on the gold coin to make sure it was pukka."
"The restaurant was very pukka, from the expensive suits worn by the staff down to the tiny snail forks."
About Pukka
Pukka developed from the Hindi and Urdu word "pakka." "Pakka" means "cooked, ripe, or substantial," but can also mean "solid" — which is likely how, over time, it came to mean "genuine."
Did you Know?
While pukka is now regarded as casual British slang, the word originated in the languages Hindi and Urdu. The word "pakka" meant "solid," and its use slowly evolved towards something being genuine or honest. An American example would be our use of the phrase, "the real McCoy."
