freak
pronunciation
How to pronounce freak in British English:
UK [friːk]
How to pronounce freak in American English:
US [friːk]
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- Noun:
- a person or animal that is markedly unusual or deformed
- someone who is so ardently devoted to something that it resembles an addiction
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- Verb:
- lose one's nerve
Word Origin
- freak (n.1)
- 1560s, "sudden and apparently causeless turn of mind," of unknown origin. Perhaps it is from a dialectal survival of a word related to Middle English friken "to move nimbly or briskly," from Old English frician "to dance" [OED, Barnhart]. There is a freking attested in mid-15c., apparently meaning "capricious behavior, whims." Or perhaps from Middle English frek "eager, zealous, bold, brave, fierce" (see freak (n.2)). Sense of "capricious notion" (1560s) and "unusual thing, fancy" (1784) preceded that of "abnormally developed individual or production" (first in freak of nature, 1839, which was later popular in variety show advertisements for bearded ladies, albinos, etc.; compare Latin lusus naturæ, which was used in English from 1660s). As "drug user," attested from 1945. The sense in health freak, ecology freak, etc. is attested from 1908 (originally Kodak freak, a camera buff). Freak show attested from 1887.
- freak (v.)
- "change, distort," 1911, from freak (n.1). Earlier, "to streak or fleck randomly" (1630s). Related: Freaked; freaking.
- freak (n.2)
- "brave man, warrior," Scottish freik, from Middle English freke "a bold man, a warrior, a man," from Old English freca "bold man, a warrior," from frec "greedy, eager, bold" (compare German frech "bold, impudent").
Synonym
Example
- 1. Freak snowstorms have short-circuited the economic powerhouse china .
- 2. The extreme events were not the result of an astounding freak of nature .
- 3. Colleagues describe a nocturnal control freak with a stubborn streak .
- 4. Billions of dollars in damage has been wreaked by freak weather across europe in the past week .
- 5. Feats of memory that would today qualify you as a freak - the ability to recite entire books - were not unheard of .