craic en · NOUN
Pronunciation
Etymology
Variant of crack, respelled after Irish craic (itself a borrowing from English).
Meanings
-
(Ireland, uncountable) Often preceded by the: amusement, fun, especially through enjoyable company; also, pleasant conversation.
"Sure, it will be a bit of craic," said Beth, "when's the last time a fortune teller came anywhere near here?"
2015, Ben Ritchie, “A Bit of Craic”, in Phil Murphy, editor, Original Writing from Ireland’s Own: An Anthology of the Best Stories from the Annual Writing Competitions Run by Ireland’s Premier Family Magazine, 2015 edition, Dublin: Original Writing, →ISBN, “Highly Commended” section, page 161:"The craic" is how the Irish celebrate life – with music, with laughter, with joy, with old friends (and new friends just waiting to be made). […] Be careful. "The craic" is mighty!
1995 September 9, “Dara: Ireland’s Most Successful Record Label [advertisement]”, in Timothy White, editor, Billboard: The International Newsweekly of Music, Video and Home Entertainment, volume 107, number 36, New York, N.Y.: BPI Communications, →ISSN, →OCLC, page 84:[Brendan] Kennelly has been sober for 21 years, but couldn't resist popping into some of the city's myriad Irish pubs. He nursed bottled water and listened to the accents, the stories, the craic.
2007 November 19, Kevin Cullen, “His peace in poetry”, in The Boston Globe, Boston, Mass.: The Globe Newspaper Co., →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 12 Mar 2025:‘It is a great atmosphere, isn’t it?’ Leon was enthusiastic, not at all cryptic or withdrawn, wholeheartedly enjoying the ‘craic’, as he called it, slapping his hand on the table in time to the bodhrán rhythm from the group singing itself hoarse and unharmonious on the stage.
1991, Mary Leland, chapter 10, in Approaching Priests, London: Sinclair-Stevenson, →ISBN, page 172:Most Irish people, you see, when asked to name their preferred aspect of living in Ireland, will instance "the crack". "The crack", which is sometimes annoyingly conveyed in the Irish-language spelling "craic", is a quintessentially Irish indicator of what in other cultures translates roughly as "fun" – except that the crack is much more than fun.
[2004 November 18, John Waters, “What's the crack?”, in Alan Rusbridger, editor, The Guardian, London: Guardian News & Media, →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 29 Jan 2022:
Deriveds
for the craic · what's the craic · craic killer
Relateds
Translations (3)
gd crac (amusement, fun, especially through enjoyable company (cognates) — see also amusement, fun) · ga craic (amusement, fun, especially through enjoyable company (cognates) — see also amusement, fun) · gd craic (amusement, fun, especially through enjoyable company (cognates) — see also amusement, fun)