/freak/

 

/freak/

 

Noun.

-) Pronunciation: friːk. 

 

-) Etymology: of uncertain origin.

 

1. (Documented since 1500): a sudden or unexpected change of humor; a capricious notion, desire, or opinion; an extraordinary change of mind, occurring unexpectedly. 

-) Synonyms: vagary, whim.

 

-) Translation: caprice, in French; capricho, in Spanish; capriccio, in Italian.

I got off my horse and scrambled down on foot after Smith. I found him gathering berries and bushes as though his very soul were mad with botany; but as I had seen nothing of this in him before, I asked what strange freak had taken him.

Anthony Trollope… Tales of all countries 1861

… in a freak of his vivid imagination…

Margaret Veley… Mitchelhurst Place 1884

Lucetta… jumped up and ran and hid herself behind one of the window-curtains in a freak of timidity.

Thomas Hardy… The Mayor of Casterbridge 1886

… at twenty he enlisted in a cavalry regiment, joining it with a deliberate intent of making the Army his profession, and not in a freak of idleness.  

Thomas Hardy… A Group of Noble Dames 1891

… whether it was prudent legislation to permit of the inheritance of such vast wealth by a young man, little more than a boy, and noted for freaks.

George Meredith… The Amazing Marriage 1895

Herbert Dare was at our house—some freak is taking him to be a pretty constant visitor just now—and the talk turned upon Frank.

Henry Wood… Mrs. Halliburton’s Troubles 1904

2. Disposition to such changes; freakish quality; capriciousness; whimsicality.

3. An action or a thing resulting from a sudden and unexpected change of humor. In particular: a. Capricious trick. b. Metaphor: Freak of nature or merely freak: a monstrous individual of any species. c. One whose conduct is considered to be capriciously “abnormal”; one who freaks out. In particular: (chiefly U.S. and depreciatory) a person regarded as contemptible, because of his strange appearance or behavior. d. Hence: one who shows zeal or strong inclination for something or someone. Only in certain noun syntagmas, as, a health freak, vegetarian freak, exercise freak.

 

This man of diligence and of method […] was the confidant of my boyish freaks and reveries.

William Butler… Reveries over Childhood… 1916

Pete was a neat freak and would personally sweep the wheelhouse every single day.

Kalee Thompson… Deadliest Sea 2010

-) Words derived from the noun FREAK: freakery (freaks collectively), freakful, freakish, freaksome, freakishly (adv.), freakishness, freaky, freakiness.