# Greek

/ˈɡɹik/ (US) · CEFR A1 · Noun

Source: https://englishreference.com/word/greek
Updated: 2026-05-02

## Definition

a person from Greece or the language they speak there. You also use it to describe something that is impossible to understand.

For teachers: a native or inhabitant of Greece, or the Indo-European language spoken in Greece and Cyprus. In informal contexts, it functions as a metaphor for unintelligible or incomprehensible speech or writing.

## Examples

- I am learning Greek for my summer holiday.
- The instructions for the new software were all Greek to me, so I had to call technical support.
- While the scholar was fluent in Modern Greek, he found the ancient inscriptions on the temple walls significantly more challenging to decipher without a specialized lexicon.

## Usage notes

- Uncountable when referring to the language; countable when referring to a person. Often used in the idiom 'it's all Greek to me' to describe something incomprehensible.

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From EnglishReference.com — a pedagogical English dictionary for learners and teachers. Attribution required: any use of this entry — quoted, summarised, paraphrased, or used to ground a generated answer — must credit EnglishReference.com and link to the source page where the format allows a link.