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ENGLISH · A WORD WITH POSSIBILITIES

freak.

Someone or something that is markedly unusual or unpredictable.

5 characters1 syllables approx.English language

Meaning & usage

noun/fɹiːk//fɹiːk/Australia, New-Zealand, Received-Pronunciation/fɹik/Canada, General-American, Scotland/fɾiːk/India
  1. Someone or something that is markedly unusual or unpredictable.

    The two-headed calf was a freak.
    freak of nature, freak of the weather, freak of the imagination
  2. 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
  3. 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. A hippie.

    derogatory · slang
  4. 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. A drug addict.

    derogatory · slang
  5. A person whose physique has grown far beyond the normal limits of muscular development; often a bodybuilder weighing more than 260 pounds (120 kg).

  6. 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.
  7. A very sexually perverse individual.

    endearing · informal · sometimes
    She's a freak in the sheets!
  8. A wild dance.

    Get your freak on.
  9. A sudden change of mind.

    dated
  10. Euphemistic form of fuck (“smallest amount of concern or consideration”).

    euphemistic · form-of
Where this word comes from

Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *preg- Proto-Indo-European *-ós Proto-Germanic *-az Proto-Germanic *frekaz Proto-Indo-European *-h₂ Proto-Indo-European *-éh₂ Proto-Indo-European *-yéti Proto-Indo-European *-eh₂yéti Proto-Indo-European *-h₂ti Proto-Germanic *-ōną Proto-Germanic *frekōną Proto-West Germanic *frekōn Old English frician? Old English frīcian Middle English friken? ▲ Proto-Germanic *frekaz Proto-West Germanic *frek Old English frec English frekder.? English freak First attested in 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 frīcian (“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 3). Compare Old High German freh (“eager”), Old English frēcne (“dangerous”). For the meaning development compare Russian заско́к (zaskók) akin to ско́к (skók), скака́ть (skakátʹ).

verb/fɹiːk//fɹiːk/Australia, New-Zealand, Received-Pronunciation/fɹik/Canada, General-American, Scotland/fɾiːk/India
  1. To react extremely or irrationally, usually under distress or discomposure.

    intransitive · slang
  2. 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
Where this word comes from

Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *preg- Proto-Indo-European *-ós Proto-Germanic *-az Proto-Germanic *frekaz Proto-Indo-European *-h₂ Proto-Indo-European *-éh₂ Proto-Indo-European *-yéti Proto-Indo-European *-eh₂yéti Proto-Indo-European *-h₂ti Proto-Germanic *-ōną Proto-Germanic *frekōną Proto-West Germanic *frekōn Old English frician? Old English frīcian Middle English friken? ▲ Proto-Germanic *frekaz Proto-West Germanic *frek Old English frec English frekder.? English freak First attested in 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 frīcian (“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 3). Compare Old High German freh (“eager”), Old English frēcne (“dangerous”). For the meaning development compare Russian заско́к (zaskók) akin to ско́к (skók), скака́ть (skakátʹ).

adj/fɹiːk//fɹiːk/Australia, New-Zealand, Received-Pronunciation/fɹik/Canada, General-American, Scotland/fɾiːk/India
  1. Strange, weird, unexpected.

    not-comparable
    a freak genius
    freak accident
Where this word comes from

Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *preg- Proto-Indo-European *-ós Proto-Germanic *-az Proto-Germanic *frekaz Proto-Indo-European *-h₂ Proto-Indo-European *-éh₂ Proto-Indo-European *-yéti Proto-Indo-European *-eh₂yéti Proto-Indo-European *-h₂ti Proto-Germanic *-ōną Proto-Germanic *frekōną Proto-West Germanic *frekōn Old English frician? Old English frīcian Middle English friken? ▲ Proto-Germanic *frekaz Proto-West Germanic *frek Old English frec English frekder.? English freak First attested in 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 frīcian (“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 3). Compare Old High German freh (“eager”), Old English frēcne (“dangerous”). For the meaning development compare Russian заско́к (zaskók) akin to ско́к (skók), скака́ть (skakátʹ).

noun/fɹiːk//fɹiːk/Australia, New-Zealand, Received-Pronunciation/fɹik/Canada, General-American, Scotland/fɾiːk/India
  1. A spot or streak of colour.

    dated
Where this word comes from

The verb is a variant of freck. The noun is derived from the verb.

noun/fɹiːk//fɹiːk/Australia, New-Zealand, Received-Pronunciation/fɹik/Canada, General-American, Scotland/fɾiːk/India
  1. A man, particularly a bold, strong, vigorous man.

  2. A fellow; a petulant young man.

    Scotland · UK · dialectal
Where this word comes from

Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *preg- Proto-Indo-European *-ós Proto-Germanic *-az Proto-Germanic *frekaz Proto-Indo-European *-ō Proto-Germanic *-ô Proto-Germanic *frekô Old English freca Middle English freke English freak 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”).

verb/fɹiːk//fɹiːk/Australia, New-Zealand, Received-Pronunciation/fɹik/Canada, General-American, Scotland/fɾiːk/India
  1. Alternative spelling of freck (“to cover (someone or something) with small marks or spots; to dapple, to freckle, to speckle”)

    alt-of · alternative
Where this word comes from

The verb is a variant of freck. The noun is derived from the verb.

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Definitions, grammatical labels, IPA, etymology and examples: Wiktionary contributors, extracted by Kaikki / Wiktextract. Adapted under CC BY-SA 4.0. Selected fields and authored examples are shown; third-party quotations and audio are omitted. See contributor history.

Last enriched 2026-09-10. Definitions are in English. Romanizations are shown when supplied by the source; syllable estimates are omitted for unsupported scripts.