Morepork
intj, noun, slang ·Moderate ·High school level
Definitions
- 1 The Tasmanian spotted owl (Ninox novaeseelandiae), a small brown owl indigenous to New Zealand and Tasmania. New-Zealand
"[T]he eye of the Morepork or Greater Night Jarr,^([sic]) which I lately had the opportunity of examining, is wonderfully adapted for enabling it to see the insects in the dark, on which it feeds."
- 2 Used as a mild term of abuse.; A foolish person; also, a person who is wearisome. Australia, New-Zealand, colloquial, derogatory
"It is interesting that the Opposition morepork is starting to chirp. [...] We have all heard about the "gang of four and a half"—the morepork brigade."
- 3 Used as a mild term of abuse.; A person who is lazy or slow; a slowcoach, a slowpoke. Australia, New-Zealand, colloquial, derogatory
"Where's that old morepoke? O, you're there, are you? Fetch the jack off o' your wagon—come! fly roun'! you're (very) slow for a young fellow."
- 1 The call of a morepork.
"[T]he morepork, a species of caprimulgus, or goatsucker,^([sic]) keeps up all night the exact repetition of its own name, "Morepork! morepork!" It is a sound to me most expressive of a dreary loneliness and twilight distance that I ever heard."
Antonyms
All antonymsExample
More examples"[T]he eye of the Morepork or Greater Night Jarr,^([sic]) which I lately had the opportunity of examining, is wonderfully adapted for enabling it to see the insects in the dark, on which it feeds."
Etymology
The word is imitative of the bird's call.
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Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.