Freak vs. Geek — What's the Difference?

A freak is a person who is physically deformed or transformed due to an extraordinary medical condition or body modification. This definition was first attested with this meaning in the 1880s as a shorter form of the phrase "freak of nature", itself a broader term attributed at least as far back as 1847.

The word geek is a slang term originally used to describe eccentric or non-mainstream people; in current use, the word typically connotes an expert or enthusiast obsessed with a hobby or intellectual pursuit. In the past, it had a generally pejorative meaning of a "peculiar person, especially one who is perceived to be overly intellectual, unfashionable, boring, or socially awkward".

A thing or occurrence that is markedly unusual or irregular

A person regarded as foolish, inept, or clumsy.

An abnormally formed organism, especially one regarded as a curiosity.

A person who is single-minded or accomplished in scientific or technical pursuits but is felt to be socially inept.

A sudden capricious turn of mind; a whim

A carnival performer whose show consists of bizarre acts, such as biting the head off a live chicken.

A drug user or addict

To excite emotionally

An eccentric or nonconformist person, especially a member of a counterculture.

(dated) A carnival performer specializing in bizarre and unappetizing behavior.

An enthusiast

(colloquial) A person who is intensely interested in a particular field or hobby and often having limited or nonstandard social skills. Often used with an attributive noun.

A fleck or streak of color.

An expert in a technical field, particularly one having to do with computers.

Highly unusual or irregular

The subculture of geeks; an esoteric subject of interest that is marginal to the social mainstream; the philosophy, events, and physical artifacts of geeks; geekness.

To experience or cause to experience frightening hallucinations or feelings of paranoia, especially as a result of taking a drug. Often used with out.

(colloquial) An unfashionable or socially undesirable person.

To behave or cause to behave irrationally and uncontrollably. Often used with out.

A look.

To become or cause to become greatly excited or upset. Often used with out.

(colloquial) To behave geekishly or in a socially awkward manner, especially when under the influence of drugs or other psycho-active substances, and exhibiting such marked characteristics as hyperactivity, repetitiveness, talkativeness, nervousness, irritability, or paranoia.

To speckle or streak with color

(colloquial) To enthusiastically engage in or discuss geek-like interests.

(dated) A sudden change of mind

(Cornwall) To look; to peep; to stare about intently.

(dated) Someone or something that is markedly unusual or unpredictable.

A performer in a carnival, often presented as a wild man, who performs grotesquely disgusting acts, such as biting the head off a live chicken or snake.

A hippie.

Any eccentric or strange person; an oddball; an eccentric.

A drug addict.

A student who is socially inept and a misfit in his class, especially one who is an intellectual; a nerd; a dork.

A person who is extremely abnormal in appearance due to a severe medical condition (originally, a freak of nature); later extended to meaning a person who is extremely abnormal in social behavior, sexual orientation, gender identity, and/or business practices; an oddball, especially in physiology (e.g., "circus freak"); a unique person, originally in a displeasing or alienating way.

An intellectually inclined person, especially one who is interested in scientific or technical subjects; as, a group of geeks wearing pocket protectors; - originally a deprecatory and contemptuous term, but in the 1990's, with the increase in popularity of computers and the frequency of accumulation of great wealth by computer entrepreneurs, it has come to be used with noticeable frequency by technically competent people to refer to themselves, ironically and sometimes proudly.

(bodybuilding) A person whose physique has grown far beyond the normal limits of muscular development; often a bodybuilder weighing more than 260 pounds (117.934 kilos).

A carnival performer who does disgusting acts

An enthusiast, or person who has an obsession with, or extreme knowledge of, something.

A person with an unusual or odd personality

A very sexually perverse individual.

(dated) A streak of colour; variegation.

Euphemistic form of fuck

A man, particularly a bold, strong, vigorous man.

A fellow; a petulant young man.

To react extremely or irrationally, usually under distress or discomposure.

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.

To streak; to variegate

Strange, weird, unexpected.

To variegate; to checker; to streak.

To react with irrationality or extreme emotion; to lose one's composure; - often used in the phrase freak out.

To become irrational or to experience hallucinations under the influence of drugs; - often used in the phrase freak out.

To cause (a person) react with great distress or extreme emotion; - often used in the phrase freak out.

A sudden causeless change or turn of the mind; a whim of fancy; a capricious prank; a vagary or caprice.

A rare and unpredictable event; as, the July snowstorm was a freak of nature.

An habitual drug user, especially one who uses psychedelic drugs.

An animal or person with a visible congenital abnormality; - applied especially to those who appear in a circus sideshow.

A person or animal that is markedly unusual or deformed

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

Lose one's nerve;