Dictionary

grok en · VERB

Pronunciation

• /ˈɡɹɒk/ (UK)
• (Australia) audio
• /ˈɡɹɑk/ (US)

Etymology

Coined ex nihilo by American author and engineer Robert A. Heinlein in 1961 in his novel Stranger in a Strange Land. Heinlein invented the word for his fictitious Martian language. It is described as meaning "to drink" and, figuratively, "to drink in all available aspects of reality", "to become one with the observed". William Tenn asked Heinlein if it could have been inspired by the term griggo, which featured in Tenn's "Venus and the Seven Sexes" (1949); Heinlein "looked startled, then thought about it for a long time (and) shrugged, (saying) 'It's possible, very possible.'"

Meanings

1. (slang, transitive) To understand (something) intuitively, to know (something) without having to think intellectually.
   • “(clapping) Stan, wake up! Can't you see? Without the shackles of religion, you're free to do whatever you want. Break a commandment, break all of 'em.” “How will that help?” “Uh, pleasure -- ever heard of it? Ever grokked it? Pleasure is the road to happiness. People talk about filling the void as if it's a bad thing. It's actually full of nerve endings.” 2016 May 9, Greg Cohen, “Daesong Heavy Industries” (7:38 from the start), in American Dad!, season 13, episode 15, spoken by Roger (Seth MacFarlane):
   • Because what he never managed to grok then was that the company he created was destined to become a template for all of humanity, the digital reflection of masses of people across the globe. Including — and especially — the bad ones. 2018 August 2, Kara Swisher, “The Expensive Education of Mark Zuckerberg and Silicon Valley”, in New York Times:
   • In his movie—right right right—and they all grok over that. Grok―and then it's clear, without anybody having to say it. 1968, Tom Wolfe, The Electric Kool-Aid Acid Test, New York, N.Y.: Farrar, Straus and Giroux, →OCLC, page 147:
   • He freely plucks notions and verbiage from science fiction to describe everything from mountain-related undertakings to political subterfuge – like "grok", a term from Robert Heinlein's Stranger in a Strange Land, to denote intuitive understanding. [2008 December, Leslie Anthony, “Running from Babylon”, in Skiing, volume 61, number 4, page 116:
   • I do not grok all fullness of what I read. In the history written by Master William Shakespeare I found myself full of happiness at the death of Romeo. Then I read on and learned that he had discorporated too soon – or so I thought I grokked. Why? 1961, Robert A. Heinlein, Stranger in a Strange Land, New York: Avon, →OCLC, page 106:
2. (slang, transitive) To fully and completely understand something in all of its details and intricacies.
   • I find it exceedingly doubtful that any person groks quantum mechanics.
   • I finally grok Perl.
   • Today we take a few moments to help you grok some of the ways that victims of TU can up their hipness – if we may use that term without being considered old school. 2008 August, Stanley Bing, “New Help for Hodads”, in Fortune, volume 158, number 3, page 152:

Forms

Deriveds

grokkable · grokker · groksucker

Descendants

гро́кнуть · grokken · groklamak · гро́кать · gročiti · gnoquer · groccare · グロック

Relateds

gurgle · subitize · guttle

Translations (28)

ru гро́кнуть (to fully understand) · cmn 精通 (to fully understand) · es pilotar (to fully understand) · fr gnoquer (to have an intuitive understanding) · fr capter (to fully understand) · it groccare (to have an intuitive understanding) · ru гро́кать (to have an intuitive understanding) · ru въезжать (to have an intuitive understanding) · de begreifen (to fully understand) · fr piger (to have an intuitive understanding) · ru шарить (to fully understand) · de verstehen (to fully understand) · sh proniknuti (to fully understand) · it groccare (to fully understand) · ru гро́кнуть (to have an intuitive understanding) · sl gročiti (to have an intuitive understanding) · de raffen (to have an intuitive understanding) · fr capter (to have an intuitive understanding) · tr kavramak (to fully understand) · eo povoscii (to fully understand) · es entender (to have an intuitive understanding) · de kapieren (to have an intuitive understanding) · tr anlamak (to fully understand) · de schnallen (to have an intuitive understanding) · tr çakmak (to have an intuitive understanding) · ru гро́кать (to fully understand) · sl gročiti (to fully understand) · fr piger (to fully understand)

wikipedia: Venus and the Seven Sexes · wikipedia: William Tenn · wikipedia: Stranger in a Strange Land