clucked; clucking; clucks
1
: to make a cluck
2
: to make a clicking sound with the tongue
3
: to express interest or concern
critics clucked over the new developments
1
: the characteristic sound made by a hen especially in calling her chicks
2
: a stupid or naive person
a dumb cluck
Synonyms
Noun
- airhead
- birdbrain
- blockhead
- bonehead
- bubblehead
- chowderhead
- chucklehead
- clodpoll
- clodpole
- clot [British]
- clunk
- cretin
- cuddy [British dialect]
- cuddie
- deadhead
- dim bulb [slang]
- dimwit
- dip
- dodo
- dolt
- donkey
- doofus [slang]
- dope
- dork [slang]
- dullard
- dum-dum
- dumbbell
- dumbhead
- dummkopf
- dummy
- dunce
- dunderhead
- fathead
- gander
- golem
- goof
- goon
- half-wit
- hammerhead
- hardhead
- idiot
- ignoramus
- imbecile
- jackass
- know-nothing
- knucklehead
- lamebrain
- loggerhead [chiefly dialect]
- loon
- lump
- lunkhead
- meathead
- mome [archaic]
- moron
- mug [chiefly British]
- mutt
- natural
- nimrod [slang]
- nincompoop
- ninny
- ninnyhammer
- nit [chiefly British]
- nitwit
- noddy
- noodle
- numskull
- numbskull
- oaf
- pinhead
- prat [British]
- ratbag [chiefly Australian]
- saphead
- schlub [slang]
- shlub
- schnook [slang]
- simpleton
- stock
- stupe
- stupid
- thickhead
- turkey
- woodenhead
- yahoo
- yo-yo
Examples of cluck in a Sentence
Verb
The hen clucked at her chicks.
The driver clucked at the horses to get them moving.
Commentators have been clucking over his lack of experience.
Noun
Don't be such a dumb cluck.
stuck with a bunch of clucks on an extended bus tour
Recent Examples on the Web
Arthur Allen, CBS News, 29 May 2024
Even a trip to the restroom is a delight, as the sound of chickens clucking in the coop above the bathrooms welcomes you in the door.
—Amanda Hancock, The Courier-Journal, 19 Feb. 2024
Matthew Every, Field & Stream, 13 Mar. 2024
Hypnotists hush our brains’ analytic tendencies: Shhhh, stop worrying about your tax return and cluck like a chicken.
—Emily Latimer, Longreads, 25 Jan. 2024
See all Example Sentences for cluck 
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to
show current usage.
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Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors.
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Verb
Even a peep of news about a new flu pandemic is enough to set scientists clucking about eggs.
—Arthur Allen, CBS News, 29 May 2024
Even a trip to the restroom is a delight, as the sound of chickens clucking in the coop above the bathrooms welcomes you in the door.
—Amanda Hancock, The Courier-Journal, 19 Feb. 2024
Noun
Many still hunters use a step-step-pause cadence to mimic a deer waking or will cluck on a turkey call occasionally while scratching the leaves with a boot.
—Matthew Every, Field & Stream, 13 Mar. 2024
Hypnotists hush our brains’ analytic tendencies: Shhhh, stop worrying about your tax return and cluck like a chicken.
—Emily Latimer, Longreads, 25 Jan. 2024
See all Example Sentences for cluck
Dictionary Entries Near cluck
Cite this Entry
“Cluck.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/cluck. Accessed 28 Nov. 2024.
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