geek
pronunciation
How to pronounce geek in British English:
UK [gi:k]
How to pronounce geek in American English:
US [ɡik]
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- Noun:
- a carnival performer who does disgusting acts
- a person with an unusual or odd personality
Word Origin
- geek (n.)
- "sideshow freak," 1916, U.S. carnival and circus slang, perhaps a variant of geck "a fool, dupe, simpleton" (1510s), apparently from Dutch gek or Low German geck, from an imitative verb found in North Sea Germanic and Scandinavian meaning "to croak, cackle," and also "to mock, cheat" (Dutch gekken, German gecken, Danish gjække, Swedish gäcka). The modern form and the popular use with reference to circus sideshow "wild men" is from 1946, in William Lindsay Gresham's novel "Nightmare Alley" (made into a film in 1947 starring Tyrone Power). "An ordinary geek doesn't actually eat snakes, just bites off chunks of 'em, chicken heads and rats." [Arthur H. Lewis, "Carnival," 1970] By c. 1983, used in teenager slang in reference to peers who lacked social graces but were obsessed with new technology and computers (such as the Anthony Michael Hall character in 1984's "Sixteen Candles"). geek out vi. To temporarily enter techno-nerd mode while in a non-hackish context, for example at parties held near computer equipment. [Eric S. Raymond, "The New Hacker's Dictionary," 1996]
Example
- 1. Or did it merely confirm that medvedev was a bit of geek ?
- 2. Gibson described himself as the geek who couldn 't play baseball .
- 3. If your face and name are anywhere on the web , you may be recognised whenever you walk the streets-not just by cops but by any geek with a computer .
- 4. Achieving the highest standards of data security is not about learning to speak fluent geek with your it department .
- 5. But in a crowded space , we 're going to take advice from a geek we trust and recommend things .