freak
slang
1. verb To suddenly express anger or excitement in a very visible way. Mom will freak when she finds out we broke her vase! I totally freaked when I heard we'd won tickets to the concert. Mary's gonna freak when she hears she's a finalist for the promotion!
2. verb To be startled or frightened. I completely freaked at the sight of that huge needle. Don't let the dog in, or Al will freak—he's always been terrified of dogs. I freaked when my stupid brother jumped out of the closet to scare me.
3. noun A person or thing considered highly irregular, unconventional, or bizarre. Can be derogatory when used to describe a person. In this city, you can be a freak and not worry about people staring at you all the time. Look at that freak! Have you ever seen a bug like that? Dude, you need to stop hanging out with the freaks. What a bunch of weirdos.
4. noun A person who is very sexually uninhibited. I've heard she's a real freak in bed. I knew it! It's always the nerdy librarian types that are freaks in the sheets! What's wrong with being a little more, um, traditional in the bedroom? Does everyone have to be a freak?
5. An interjection used as a more mild version of "fuck." Freak! Where did I put my keys? What the freak happened in here? It's an absolute mess! A: "Hey, do these cookies taste kind of weird to you?" B: "Yup. Freak, I must have messed up the recipe."
freak out
slang
1. verb To suddenly express anger or excitement in a very visible way. Mom will freak out when she finds out we broke her vase! I totally freaked out when I heard we'd won tickets to the concert. Mary's gonna freak out when she hears she's a finalist for the promotion!
2. verb To startle or frighten someone. In this usage, a noun or pronoun can be used between "freak" and "out." The sight of that huge needle completely freaked me out. Don't let the dog in, or Al will freak out—he's always been terrified of dogs. I freaked out when my stupid brother jumped out of the closet to scare me.
3. verb To experience jarring and frightening side effects (such as hallucinations) due to drug use. In this usage, a noun or pronoun can be used between "freak" and "out." I swore off drugs because my last trip freaked me out so bad. Those hallucinations felt so real and terrifying! Whew, they really freaked me out. Freak out on that stuff enough times, and you'll never want to take anything like it ever again.
4. noun A bad experience while taking some mind-altering drug. In this usage, the phrase is often hyphenated or written as one word. I swore off drugs after my last freak-out. How can we calm this guy down? I don't know what he took, but he's definitely having a freakout. I hate having a freak-out when I'm just looking to escape reality for a bit.
5. noun A wild party. In this usage, the phrase is often hyphenated or written as one word. Someone in our class always throws a real freak-out at the end of the school year. We were having a freak-out, until one of the neighbors called the cops, and they broke everything up. Don't worry, Jeff scored some drugs for our freak-out tonight.
freak out over (something)
slang To express sudden and intense anger or excitement in a very visible way for a particular reason. Mom will freak out over the broken vase for sure! I totally freaked out over the news that we'd won tickets to the concert. Mary's gonna freak out over being a finalist for the promotion!
Farlex Dictionary of Idioms. © 2024 Farlex, Inc, all rights reserved.
freak out
(at someone or something) Go to freak out (over someone or something).
freak out
(on something) to lose control of one's mind because of something, usually a drug. She freaked out on the stuff she was smoking. She took some funny little pills and freaked out immediately.
freak out (over someone or something)
and freak out (at someone or something)to become very angry or lose control of one's mind because of someone or something that has happened. I absolutely freaked out over the whole business! Don't freak out at me!
freak someone out
to shock or disorient someone. The whole business freaked me out. I didn't mean to freak out everybody with the bad news.
McGraw-Hill Dictionary of American Idioms and Phrasal Verbs. © 2002 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc.
freak out
1. Experience or cause to experience hallucinations, paranoia, or other frightening feelings as a result of taking a mind-altering drug. For example, They were freaking out on LSD or some other drug. [Slang; mid-1960s]
2. Behave or cause to behave irrationally and uncontrollably, with enthusiasm, excitement, fear, or madness. For example,
The band's wild playing made the audience freak out, or
It was such a close accident, it really freaked me out, or
She freaked out and ended up in the psychiatric ward. [
Slang; 1960s] Also see
flip one's lid;
wig out.
The American Heritage® Dictionary of Idioms by Christine Ammer. Copyright © 2003, 1997 by The Christine Ammer 1992 Trust. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.