Library / English Dictionary

FREAK

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

 I. (noun) 

Sense 1

Meaning:

Someone who is so ardently devoted to something that it resembles an addiction

Example:

a news junkie

Synonyms:

addict; freak; junkie; junky; nut

Classified under:

Nouns denoting people

Hypernyms ("freak" is a kind of...):

enthusiast; partisan; partizan (an ardent and enthusiastic supporter of some person or activity)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "freak"):

gym rat (someone who spends all leisure time playing sports or working out in a gymnasium or health spa)

Sense 2

Meaning:

A person or animal that is markedly unusual or deformed

Synonyms:

freak; lusus naturae; monster; monstrosity

Classified under:

Nouns denoting people

Hypernyms ("freak" is a kind of...):

mutant; mutation; sport; variation ((biology) an organism that has characteristics resulting from chromosomal alteration)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "freak"):

leviathan (the largest or most massive thing of its kind)

 II. (verb) 

Sense 1

Meaning:

Lose one's nerve

Example:

When he saw the accident, he freaked out

Synonyms:

freak; freak out; gross out

Classified under:

Verbs of feeling

Hypernyms (to "freak" is one way to...):

panic (be overcome by a sudden fear)

Sentence frame:

Somebody ----s

Credits

 Context examples: 

By some freak of the waters I had been swept clear under the forecastle-head and into the eyes.

(The Sea-Wolf, by Jack London)

A reception of finished politeness would probably have confused me: I could not have returned or repaid it by answering grace and elegance on my part; but harsh caprice laid me under no obligation; on the contrary, a decent quiescence, under the freak of manner, gave me the advantage.

(Jane Eyre, by Charlotte Brontë)

But memory turned traitor, and as if possessed by the perverse spirit of the girl, would only recall Jo's oddities, faults, and freaks, would only show her in the most unsentimental aspects—beating mats with her head tied up in a bandanna, barricading herself with the sofa pillow, or throwing cold water over his passion a la Gummidge—and an irresistable laugh spoiled the pensive picture he was endeavoring to paint.

(Little Women, by Louisa May Alcott)

It would be a great comfort to Mr. Weston, as he grew older—and even Mr. Weston might be growing older ten years hence—to have his fireside enlivened by the sports and the nonsense, the freaks and the fancies of a child never banished from home; and Mrs. Weston—no one could doubt that a daughter would be most to her; and it would be quite a pity that any one who so well knew how to teach, should not have their powers in exercise again.

(Emma, by Jane Austen)

By some freak of pressures, his frail body had snapped the strong man’s leg like a pipe-stem.

(The Sea-Wolf, by Jack London)

What if a former caprice (a freak very possible to a nature so sudden and headstrong as his) has delivered him into her power, and she now exercises over his actions a secret influence, the result of his own indiscretion, which he cannot shake off, and dare not disregard?

(Jane Eyre, by Charlotte Brontë)