Refine this word faster

Stronger alternatives Opposite tone Use in context Cross-language nuance

Freak

//fɹiːk// adj, noun, verb, slang

Definitions

Adjective

1
Strange, weird, unexpected. not-comparable
"a freak genius"

Noun

1
Someone or something that is markedly unusual or unpredictable.
"The two-headed calf was a freak."
2
A man, particularly a bold, strong, vigorous man.
3
someone who is so ardently devoted to something that it resembles an addiction wordnet
4
A hippie.
"When long-haired, outlandishly dressed, drug-using hippies pilgrimaged to Haight-Ashbury in the early 1960s, they were quickly dubbed freaks; the pejorative appellation was both obvious and intended. It was not long before freak had become practically synonymous with hippie. It seems, however, that with the acceptance of long hair, the appearance and popularity of some rather bizarre fashions, and the emphasis placed upon "doing one's own thing," freak is no longer burdened with all of its former derogatory associations. Instead […] the word is beginning to acquire a quality which is favorable, glamorous, and somehow even admirable."
5
A fellow; a petulant young man. Scotland, UK, dialectal

Show 10 more definitions

6
a person or animal that is markedly unusual or deformed wordnet
7
A drug addict.
"Smith and Sturges [June 1969] note in their study of the San Francisco drug scene that freak means "anyone addicted to drugs.""
8
A person who is extremely abnormal in appearance, social behavior, sexual orientation, gender identity, or business practices; an oddball, a unique person, originally in a displeasing or alienating way. derogatory, slang
"Gentrification often starts with the artists, revolutionaries, freaks, transfolks, and queers (what I would call my people) moving into poor neighborhoods inhabited by people of color."
9
A person whose physique has grown far beyond the normal limits of muscular development; often a bodybuilder weighing more than 260 pounds (120 kg).
10
An enthusiast, or person who has an obsession with, or extreme knowledge of, something.
"Bob's a real video-game freak. He owns every games console of the last ten years."
11
A very sexually perverse individual. endearing, informal, sometimes
"She's a freak in the sheets!"
12
A wild dance.
"Get your freak on."
13
A sudden change of mind. dated
"And then, with heart more hard than stone, He pick'd my marrow from the bone. To vex me more, he took a freak To slit my tongue and make me speak: But, that which wonderful appears, I speak to eyes, and not to ears."
14
A streak of colour; variegation. dated
15
Euphemistic form of fuck (“smallest amount of concern or consideration”). euphemistic, form-of
"So why am I grieving over someone who doesn't even give a freak about me? These vindictive ideas flowed through my head. A part of me wanted to carve my name into his little Saturn leather seats, but I remembered they weren't leather."

Verb

1
To react extremely or irrationally, usually under distress or discomposure. intransitive, slang
"When the owner found a bunch of beatniks in there, he freaked, but that was later."
2
lose one's nerve wordnet
3
To be placed or place someone under the influence of a psychedelic drug, (especially) to experience reality withdrawal, or hallucinations (nightmarish), to behave irrational or unconventional due to drug use. ambitransitive, slang
4
To streak; to variegate dated, transitive
"Freakt with many a mingled hue."

Etymology

Etymology 1

First appears c. 1567. The sense "sudden change of mind, a whim" is of uncertain origin. Probably from a dialectal word related to Middle English frekynge (“capricious behavior; whims”) and Middle English friken, frikien (“to move briskly or nimbly”), from Old English frician (“to leap, dance”), or Middle English frek (“insolent, daring”), from Old English frec (“desirous, greedy, eager, bold, daring”), from Proto-West Germanic *frek, from Proto-Germanic *frekaz, *frakaz (“hard, efficient, greedy, bold, audacious”) (in which case, it would be related to the noun under Etymology 2). Compare Old High German freh (“eager”), Old English frēcne (“dangerous”). For the meaning development compare Russian заско́к (zaskók) akin to скок (skok), скака́ть (skakátʹ).

Etymology 2

Etymology 3

Etymology 4

From Middle English freke, freike (“a bold man, warrior, man, creature”), from Old English freca (“a bold man, warrior, hero”), from Proto-Germanic *frekô (“an active or eager man, warrior, wolf”), from *frekaz (“active, bold, desirous, greedy”), from Proto-Indo-European *pereg-, *spereg- (“to shrug, be quick, twitch, splash, blast”). Cognate with Old Norse freki (“greedy or avaricious one, a wolf”), Old High German freh (“eager”), German frech, Old English frēcne (“dangerous, daring, courageous, bold”).

Next best steps

Find stronger synonyms See usage examples Check pronunciation

Mini challenge

Unscramble this word: freak