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Grok may be the only English word that derives from Martian. Yes, we do mean the language of the planet Mars. No, we're not getting spacey; we've just ventured into the realm of science fiction. Grok was introduced in Robert A. Heinlein's 1961 science fiction novel Stranger in a Strange Land. The book's main character, Valentine Michael Smith, is a Martian-raised human who comes to Earth as an adult, bringing with him words from his native tongue and a unique perspective on the strange ways of earthlings. Grok was quickly adopted by the youth culture of America and has since peppered the vernacular of those who grok it.
Synonyms
Examples of grok in a Sentence
Isaac Schultz / Gizmodo, Quartz, 24 Mar. 2024
The irony is how the people who grok Enlightenment still manage to remain so un-Enlightened about the people who don't.
—Chris Mooney, Discover Magazine, 11 Aug. 2011
The nature of this religious nationalism is hard for many Westerners to grok.
—Razib Khan, Discover Magazine, 6 May 2012
Overwatch 2 is a complicated game that will take a long time for new players to fully grok.
—Kris Holt, Forbes, 4 Oct. 2022
If there was any ironic intent behind the question, NeuNer didn’t seem to grok it.
—Jacob Silverman, The New Republic, 3 Mar. 2022
Physicists can’t grok the behavior of a single electron that is identical to every other electron.
—John Horgan, Scientific American, 6 Feb. 2021
The developers hope graphical and feature improvements that make Age of Empires IV easy to learn will let spectators and casual players grok the basics of high-level play—not just as players, but as fans.
—Matthew Smith, Wired, 25 Oct. 2021
One of the best ways to grok it is through this experiment involving different colors of light.
—Rhett Allain, Wired, 8 Oct. 2021
Dictionary Entries Near grok
Cite this Entry
“Grok.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/grok. Accessed 5 Nov. 2024.
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