What does "turkey" mean?
The guinea fowl (family Numididae).
Turkey
/ˈtɜːki/ adj, name, noun, slang
adj, name, noun, slang ·Common ·High school level
Meaning at a glance
- Primary sense: The guinea fowl (family Numididae).
- Grammar: turkey is listed as adj, name, noun, slang.
- Nearest alternatives: bomb, dud, anatolian, bantam.
- Useful contrasts: blockbuster, foreign, hit.
- Usage evidence: Maybe, but he wants me to stop cold turkey.
How to use "turkey"
- Start with the primary definition, then check the part of speech before placing the word in a sentence.
- Compare nearby synonyms to make sure "turkey" carries the exact meaning, tone, and strength you need.
- Use the example sentence as a context check. If your sentence uses the word differently, confirm that the grammar still fits.
Meaning check
- Does the word fit the sentence's grammar?
- Does it match the intended tone rather than only the dictionary definition?
- Would a simpler synonym be clearer for the reader?
- Is there enough surrounding context to prevent ambiguity?
Source and review context
This entry combines structured lexical data with WordToolSet review checks. Definitions, examples, synonyms, and usage notes may come from different source tables, so the page is designed to show evidence from more than one angle before you rely on "turkey" in a final draft.
If a word has several senses, prefer the sense that matches your sentence's grammar and surrounding context. A correct definition can still be the wrong choice when the sentence needs a different register, emphasis, or level of specificity.
Before you rely on this definition
Read the first definition as a starting point, then check the example, synonyms, and part of speech before treating "turkey" as the right word for your sentence.
If your draft is formal, technical, persuasive, or sensitive, compare "turkey" with a nearby alternative so the final choice matches both meaning and reader expectation.
Compare nearby meanings
- Use synonyms when you need a softer, stronger, simpler, or more specific word.
- Use antonyms to check the boundary of the meaning and avoid accidental contrast.
- Use the example sentence to confirm the word behaves naturally in context.
- Keep the original wording when a replacement adds complexity without improving precision.
Definition decision workflow
1. Identify the role
Check whether "turkey" is acting as adj, name, noun, slang in your sentence. A definition is only useful when the grammar matches the way the word is being used.
2. Test the nearest option
Compare it with "bomb" and other nearby choices to see whether the sentence needs a softer, stronger, or more familiar word.
3. Confirm with context
Use the example sentence below as an evidence check, then read your own sentence out loud to catch tone or rhythm problems.
Review note: Definition pages are checked for source coverage, sentence evidence, synonym support, and editorial insight before they are treated as approval-ready pages. If the evidence is too thin, the page remains available to users but is kept out of the approval-facing indexed inventory.
Final meaning check
Before publishing a sentence with "turkey", ask whether the word helps the reader understand the idea faster. A precise word should reduce confusion, not simply make the sentence look more polished.
When the definition, synonym evidence, and example context point in the same direction, the word is usually a safer choice. When they conflict, revise the sentence or choose a clearer alternative.
Definitions
Noun
- 1 The guinea fowl (family Numididae). countable, obsolete
- 2 Synonym of Turkey red (“a vibrant red dye or its color”). uncountable
- 3 large gallinaceous bird with fan-shaped tail; widely domesticated for food wordnet
- 4 A bird in the genus Meleagris with a fan-shaped tail and wattled neck.; A wild turkey of Meleagris gallopavo. countable
- 5 Synonym of Turkey blue (“a deep indigo dye or its color”). obsolete, uncountable
Show 12 more definitions
- 6 an event that fails badly or is totally ineffectual wordnet
- 7 A bird in the genus Meleagris with a fan-shaped tail and wattled neck.; A domesticated bird of Meleagris gallopavo domesticus. countable
"It was a Turkey! He never could have stood upon his legs, that bird. He would have snapped 'em short off in a minute, like sticks of sealing-wax."
- 8 flesh of large domesticated fowl usually roasted wordnet
- 9 The flesh or meat of this bird eaten as food. uncountable
"All week after Thanksgiving, I had turkey sandwiches for lunch."
- 10 a person who does something thoughtless or annoying wordnet
- 11 With a distinguishing word: a bird resembling the Meleagris gallopavo (for example, the brush turkey or bush turkey (Alectura lathami), and the water turkey (Anhinga anhinga)). countable
- 12 An act of throwing three strikes in a row. countable
- 13 A patient feigning symptoms; a person faking illness or injury; a malingerer. countable, derogatory, slang
"Mumford (1970) noted that the terms ‘crock’, ‘gomer’, and ‘turkey’, were sometimes utilized by interns to designate different types of undesirable patients, and sometimes used synonymously."
- 14 A pack carried by a lumberman; a bindle; also, a large travel bag, a suitcase. Australia, US, countable, dated, slang
- 15 A failure. US, countable, slang
"That film was a turkey."
- 16 A foolish or inept person. US, countable, derogatory, mildly, slang, usually
"The turkey cut in front of me and then berated me for running into him."
- 17 A prostitute. derogatory, slang
"Shorty think she slick, but everybody know she a turkey."
Adjective
- 1 Synonym of Turkey red (“dyed or colored Turkey red”). uncountable
- 2 Synonym of Turkey blue (“dyed or colored Turkey blue”). obsolete, uncountable
Proper Noun
- 1 A country located in Eastern Thrace in Southeastern Europe and Anatolia in West Asia. Official name: Republic of Türkiye. Capital: Ankara.
"One Terrorgram user livestreamed himself stabbing five people outside of a mosque in Turkey, she said, and a 19-year-old Slovakian man praised the group in a manifesto before killing two people at an LGBTQ bar in Bratislava, the capital of Slovakia."
- 2 Synonym of Ottoman Empire, a former empire in Europe, Asia, Africa. Capital: Istanbul. historical, proscribed, sometimes
Antonyms
Example
"Maybe, but he wants me to stop cold turkey."
Common questions
What is a synonym for "turkey"?
Common synonyms include: bomb, dud, anatolian, bantam, banty, barn-door fowl.
How do you use "turkey" in a sentence?
Maybe, but he wants me to stop cold turkey.
How do you pronounce "turkey"?
Pronounced /ˈtɜːki/.
Etymology
Etymology 1
Clipping of turkey-cock and turkey-hen, originally denoting the guinea fowl, an African bird that was first imported to Europe through Turkey, but there is some controversy over the origin. The word was then transferred to the superficially similar North American bird Meleagris gallopavo.
Etymology 2
From Middle English Turkye, from Anglo-Norman Turkye, Medieval Latin Turcia, from Turcus (“Turk”), from Byzantine Greek Τοῦρκος (Toûrkos), from Classical Persian تُرْک (turk), from Middle Persian [script needed] (twlk' /turk/), from Old Turkic 𐱅𐰇𐰼𐰜 (t²ür²k̥).