pukka
/ˈpʌkə
/(also pukkah)
adjective informal
1Genuine: the more expensive brands are pukka natural mineral waters...
- When talking tipple, the conversation invariably turns to bubbly - carbonated, spritzed, Cap Classique or the real thing, pukka Champagne from France.
- But we persuaded Gil we were actually pukka, so he allowed us to interview him.
- This is your real pukka darts board, mind you, as seen on TV and everything.
Synonyms
genuine, authentic, proper, actual, real, true, bona fide, veritable, original, not copied, legitimate
informal kosher, the real McCoy
1.1Of or appropriate to high or respectable society: it wouldn’t be considered the pukka thing to do...
- I've no pukkah university bred accent and belong to no high-powered ‘old boys network.’
- Heat-jaded Sahibs and Memsahibs came here to escape the coast's hottest months, they invented snooker at the pukka Ooty Club and came to gossip at Charing Cross - locations were named by the British.
- ‘He is very pukka, from upper middle class North Indian stock,’ one friend said.
Synonyms
respectable, decorous, proper, genteel, formal, polite, conventional, right, correct, accepted, presentable, decent, smart;
French comme il faut
British informal posh, top-notch, tip-top
2British Excellent: hey, man, that shirt’s pukka...
- Once you've seen someone naff wearing the goods, they just aren't pukka any more, not matter how expensive.
- Khan says that the mafia has not only encroached the land by keeping articles of his bidi and cigarette shop but also has done some pucka construction work.
Origin
Late 17th century: from Hindi pakkā 'cooked, ripe, substantial'.
Rhymes
- hyperdiploid
- hyperdiploidy
- hyperdrive
- hyperemesis
- hyperemesis gravidarum
- hyperemia
- hyperesthesia
- hyperextend
- hyperextension
- hyperflier
- hyperfocal distance
- hypergamy
- hyperglycaemia
- hyperglycaemic
- hyperglycemia
- hypergolic
- hypergranulation
- hypericin
- hypericum
- hyperimmune
- hyperimmunized
- hyperinflation
- hyperinstrument
- Hyperion
- hyperkeratosis