grok
English
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grok
- /ˈɡɹɒk/ UK
- /ˈɡɹɑk/ US
Rhymes with -ɒk
Where it comes from
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.'"
verb groks · grokking · groking · grokked · groked
- To understand (something) intuitively, to know (something) without having to think intellectually. 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?
- To fully and completely understand something in all of its details and intricacies. I finally grok Perl.
Translations
Talk about this word "grok." Wiktionary, via Micwyn, micwyn.com/word/grok. Accessed 6 Nov. 2026. grok. (n.d.). In Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Retrieved November 6, 2026, from https://micwyn.com/word/grok "grok." Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Accessed November 6, 2026. https://micwyn.com/word/grok.Cite this
@misc{grok_2026,
title = {grok},
howpublished = {Wiktionary, via Micwyn},
year = {2026},
url = {https://micwyn.com/word/grok},
urldate = {2026-11-06}
}
