buck
15 synonyms for buck, grouped by meaning and by how common each one is.
Noun — An adult male deer or similar animal.
Synonyms
Everyday swaps
Common words most readers know — safe in any writing.
Less common
Still standard English, but they carry more weight.
Rare, literary or technical
Precise, but they will stand out — check the sense before using one.
Synonyms by Meaning
1. noun
An adult male deer or similar animal.
“A buck and two does grazed in the meadow at dawn.”
How to use buck
The word patterns that sound natural to a native speaker.
buck the trend
make a quick buck
buck wildly
Etymology
From Old English bucca ("he-goat, stag"). The dollar sense comes from "buckskin," once used as a unit of trade among American frontier traders.
Full origin of buck →Frequently asked questions
What does “buck” mean?
The word “buck” means an adult male deer or similar animal. In plain terms, a male deer, informal slang for a dollar, or (as a verb) to kick upward violently or to resist something.
How do you pronounce “buck”?
“Buck” is pronounced BUHK (/ˈbʌk/ in IPA).
How do you use “buck” in a sentence?
Here is “buck” used in a sentence: “A buck stood at the edge of the woods, antlers catching the light.”
What part of speech is “buck”?
Depending on how it is used, “buck” can be a noun and a verb.
Where does the word “buck” come from?
The word “buck” comes from Old English. From Old English bucca ("he-goat, stag"). The dollar sense comes from "buckskin," once used as a unit of trade among American frontier traders.
Is “buck” a common word?
“Buck” is a fairly common word in modern English.
How many meanings does “buck” have?
“Buck” has 4 distinct senses listed in this dictionary. The most common is: an adult male deer or similar animal.
Why is a dollar called a buck?
The informal use of buck for a dollar is most often traced to buckskins — deer hides — which served as a unit of trade on the early American frontier. The animal sense of buck, an adult male deer, is therefore thought to sit behind the money sense, which stayed in the language long after hides stopped changing hands.
If a male deer is a buck, what is the female called?
A female deer is a doe, and a young deer is a fawn. Buck refers to the adult male, and the same buck-and-doe pairing is used for several similar animals, including rabbits.
