freak

B2 Topic:Actions & Processes

US /fɹiːk/ See IPA manual

Freq #2160

Meanings

1

verb
To suddenly become very angry, frightened, or upset (often "freak out").

When they saw the accident, they freaked out.
2

noun
A person who is extremely enthusiastic about something.

Bob's a real video-game freak; he owns every console.
3

noun
Someone or something that is strange or very unusual.

The two-headed calf was treated as a freak.

Verb forms

Verb forms are not available for this word yet.

Thesaurus

Synonyms

1 verb · to suddenly become very... freak out

2 noun · a person who is extremely... enthusiast fan fanatic fiend buff

3 noun · someone or something that... oddity anomaly aberration

Word family

Forms freakedfreakingfreakishfreaks

Derived forms cyberfreakdefreakdemofreakecofreakfreak-offfreak-outfreakazoidfreakbeatfreakdomfreakendfreakeryfreakful

Appears in

Phrases (1)

See all

freak accident
a highly unusual, unexpected accident that is very unlikely to recur

Adjective + noun

Etymology

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…

friken Middle English frician Old English frek Middle English frec Old English *frek Proto-West Germanic *frekaz Proto-Germanic

View etymology graph ->

Topics

Actions & Processes

External links

# freak

**Type:** Word
**Level:** B2
**Part of speech:** verb, noun
**IPA (US):** /fɹiːk/
**Frequency rank:** 2160

## Meanings
1. To suddenly become very angry, frightened, or upset (often "freak out").
2. A person who is extremely enthusiastic about something.
3. Someone or something that is strange or very unusual.

## Examples
- When they saw the accident, they freaked out.
- Bob's a real video-game freak; he owns every console.
- The two-headed calf was treated as a freak.

## Derived Forms
- cyberfreak
- defreak
- demofreak
- ecofreak
- freak-off
- freak-out
- freakazoid
- freakbeat
- freakdom
- freakend
- freakery
- freakful

## Roots and Affixes
- Root: friken
- Root: frician
- Root: frek
- Root: frec
- Root: *frek
- Root: *frekaz

## Etymology
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…

## AI Etymology
Freak 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). In current use, the main senses are “To suddenly become very angry, frightened, or upset (often "freak out")” and “A person who is extremely enthusiastic about something”.

## Topics
- Actions & Processes

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