How to Use punk in a Sentence

punk

1 of 2 noun
  • What could be more punk than that?
    — Erica Campbell, Pitchfork, 1 June 2026
  • Get a pop-punk band that plays.
    — Ilana Kaplan, PEOPLE, 11 Sep. 2025
  • No names, but the guy was a punk.
    — Selome Hailu, Variety, 21 Feb. 2026
  • The punk scene was all about young, young, young.
    — Fort Worth Star-Telegram, 10 June 2026
  • That’s punk, that’s rock & roll, that’s hip-hop.
    — Gil Kaufman, Billboard, 19 Sep. 2025
  • That’s punk, that’s rock & roll, that’s hip-hop.
    — Jon Blistein, Rolling Stone, 18 Sep. 2025
  • The same holds doubly true for punk.
    — Siran Babayan, Los Angeles Times, 18 May 2026
  • Theater is not for punks, okay?
    — Zak Cheney-Rice, Vulture, 13 May 2026
  • The punk movement broke out around this time.
    — Andy Greene, Rolling Stone, 10 Feb. 2026
  • So, in the end, does that mean Iceage is still a punk band?
    — Brendan Hay, SPIN, 2 June 2026
  • The score is bold and eclectic, with gospel, jazz, rock, blues, and punk.
    — Catherine Garcia, The Week, 10 June 2023
  • Her show leaked into the mainstream like punk.
    — Owen Gleiberman, Variety, 17 June 2026
  • This album tore apart what people thought could come from punk.
    — Liza Lentini, SPIN, 1 May 2026
  • Does this mean those pop-goes-punk comp albums are coming back?
    — Bethy Squires, Vulture, 13 Apr. 2026
  • What about the film's punk-rock aesthetic?
    — Mike Miller, Entertainment Weekly, 16 Dec. 2025
  • By the nineties, punk zines had been around long enough to be taken for granted.
    — Literary Hub, 23 Apr. 2026
  • Oh, but playing reggae, not punk.
    — Peter Larsen, Oc Register, 7 May 2026
  • So, punk was already there and getting only more so.
    — Glenn Garner, Deadline, 2 Nov. 2025
  • So, punk was already there and getting only more so.
    — Glenn Garner, Deadline, 30 Oct. 2025
  • This mindset has given rise to punk, grunge and indie sleaze trends.
    — Angela Velasquez, Sourcing Journal, 21 Oct. 2025
  • The former is a no-nonsense pink-haired punk who turns out to be the mom friend of the group.
    — Rachelle Hampton, Washington Post, 9 June 2023
  • Pop-punk and rap are both great vehicles to get that message out to the world.
    — Billboard Staff, Billboard, 5 Apr. 2022
  • It’s been said that there’s nothing scarier than an old punk rocker.
    — Tristram Lozaw, BostonGlobe.com, 3 Apr. 2023
  • This sort of punk kid with an almost plain-sounding voice trying to just go for it.
    — Alison Weinflash, Rolling Stone, 18 Feb. 2026
  • The punk-rock dystopia surrounded her from the outset.
    — Owen Gleiberman, Variety, 24 June 2026
  • Yungblud mixes punk and rock with his vocals.
    — Carlos Rico, San Diego Union-Tribune, 15 May 2026
  • Yungblud mixes punk and rock with his vocals.
    — Abby Hamblin, San Diego Union-Tribune, 18 May 2026
  • At this point, the punk revolution was old news, and the new wave was in full swing.
    — Owen Gleiberman, Variety, 25 Jan. 2024
  • The veteran punk band's set was utter chaos.
    — Deborah Sengupta Stith, Austin American Statesman, 17 Mar. 2026
  • The demo is very garage-sounding, very punk-sounding.
    — Chris Willman, Variety, 24 Mar. 2026

punk

2 of 2 adjective
  • Many of us coming out of punk [were] into that kind of new wave post-punk period.
    — David Chiu, Forbes.com, 28 May 2026
  • The rhythm section plays duck-and-dodge with the post-punk guitar, building up the tension.
    — Rob Sheffield, Rolling Stone, 11 May 2026
  • This one pulls the theater credibly into the harder rock realm — the pre-punk, pre-grunge one.
    — Christopher Arnott, Hartford Courant, 3 May 2026
  • The new album is described as leaning into the band's early post-punk and goth influences.
    — Ed Masley, AZCentral.com, 21 Oct. 2025
  • The post-punk-rock band Tigers In Cairo was voted Best New Artist.
    — George Varga, San Diego Union-Tribune, 6 May 2026
  • Their early albums showcased a snappy post-punk confidence.
    — Ethan Beck, Pitchfork, 4 May 2026
  • Merchandise, the post-punk band from Tampa, Florida, are back with their first new music in nine years.
    — Matthew Strauss, Pitchfork, 18 Aug. 2025
  • Dave Allen, the bassist of British post-punk group Gang of Four, died at age 69 on April 5.
    — Brendan Le, PEOPLE, 5 Jan. 2026
  • Even the house’s actual residents were the right types—one was a post-punk musician Trier admired.
    — Margaret Talbot, New Yorker, 3 Nov. 2025
  • Devo traces the Ohio art-school collective’s evolution from post-punk performance artists to one of the most subversive acts of the ’80s.
    — Jordan Runtagh, PEOPLE, 22 Nov. 2025
  • The first Cocteau Twins album, 1982’s Garlands, features a more gothic post-punk sound than the band’s later work.
    — Al Shipley, SPIN, 3 Apr. 2026
  • The show runs through July 22 and is free to the public, offering a rare, close-up look at the creative life behind one of post-punk’s most enduring figures.
    — Spin Staff, SPIN, 7 May 2026
  • Everything from Surf Gang’s ethereal take on sample drill to the experimental post-punk band Moin.
    — Jeff Ihaza, Rolling Stone, 10 Oct. 2025
  • The band’s sound continued to experiment with the trippy, distorted possibilities of post-punk psychedelia.
    — Encyclopedia Britannica, 19 Mar. 2026
  • With Alex Chilton as his sideman, the provocative Tav Falco brought blues and rockabilly screaming into the post-punk era.
    — Stephen M. Deusner, Pitchfork, 8 Feb. 2026
  • Ninety-second hits of twee pop and bony post-punk make up the middle section of the record, all built around three to four power chords and delivered with overdriven vocals and feral enthusiasm.
    — Alex Robert Ross, Pitchfork, 8 June 2026
  • Its fashion draws inspiration from post-punk, underground comics, skateboarding and other subcultures.
    — Jean E. Palmieri, Footwear News, 14 May 2026
  • This is a duo of bands, linked by shared members, whose influence on post-punk, electronic music and alternative rock is widely acknowledged by musicians and critics alike.
    — Hanna Wickes, Charlotte Observer, 26 Feb. 2026
  • One was Wire, the uncompromising English post-punk band cited by at least three DK members in this oral history.
    — Jim Higgins, jsonline.com, 6 Aug. 2025
  • The songs are sharper and more confident, shaped by a successful return to touring and the guidance of producer Nick Launay, whose own history stretches back to the original post-punk era.
    — Steve Appleford, SPIN, 29 May 2026
  • New rave, however, provided an alternative to the trilby hats, leather jackets and winklepickers from acts looking to capture the same spirit as the post-punk bands of the late ‘70s and ‘80s.
    — Thomas Smith, Billboard, 3 Sep. 2019
  • Led by the magnetic Tom Peter, the prolific lo-fi post-punk band out of Australia adds a human drummer and turns in a 23-minute burst of nonstop fun and creativity.
    — Nina Corcoran, Pitchfork, 8 May 2026
  • Unfortunately for Clark, a Slits cover of one of her songs is unlikely, since the post-punk trio broke up after the 2010 death of frontwoman Ari Up.
    — Kory Grow, Rolling Stone, 18 Dec. 2025
  • On their debut album together, post-punk trio the Messthetics and saxophonist James Brandon Lewis arrived at the same point by following two different paths.
    — Stephen Thomas Erlewine, Pitchfork, 19 Feb. 2026
  • With its blend of high camp, pre-punk attitude, and equal parts parody and tribute to science fiction, horror films, and the music of the 1950s, the film more than earned its place in the Library of Congress.
    — Katherine Turman, Rolling Stone, 17 Oct. 2025
  • Instead, the record pulls from a specific strain of ’80s Australian rock, filtering it through a darker, post-punk lens inspired by bands like the Sisters of Mercy and Magazine.
    — Spin Staff, SPIN, 8 Apr. 2026
  • Classic rock and soul, post-punk, electronic, dub, jazz, Krautrock, Motown, Stax, Bowie, Beatles, Beach Boys, Miles Davis, etc.
    — Liza Lentini, SPIN, 15 May 2026
  • But Head Over Heels otherwise keeps a foot firmly in the band’s early gothic post-punk period, expanding on the sound of the more electronic tracks on Siouxsie and the Banshees’ Kaleidoscope.
    — Al Shipley, SPIN, 12 May 2026
  • Described as Superbad meets Derry Girls, Bender is based on the late-’70s, post-punk Dublin coming-of-age experiences of Adrian Cunningham, who penned the script.
    — Matt Grobar, Deadline, 20 Apr. 2026
  • Described as Superbad meets Derry Girls, Bender is based on the late-’70s, post-punk Dublin coming-of-age experiences of Adrian Cunningham, who penned the script.
    — Matt Grobar, Deadline, 5 Nov. 2025

Some of these examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'punk.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

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