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Familiar vs Freak - What's the difference?

familiar | freak |

As adjectives the difference between familiar and freak

is that familiar is familial while freak is strange, weird.

As a noun freak is

a man, particularly a bold, strong, vigorous man or freak can be a sudden causeless change or turn of the mind; a whim of fancy; a capricious prank; a vagary or caprice.

As a verb freak is

to make greatly distressed and/or a discomposed appearance.

familiar

English

Adjective

(en adjective)
  • Known to one.
  • * {{quote-magazine, date=2013-07-20, volume=408, issue=8845, magazine=(The Economist)
    • , title= Welcome to the plastisphere , passage=Plastics are energy-rich substances, which is why many of them burn so readily. Any organism that could unlock and use that energy would do well in the Anthropocene. Terrestrial bacteria and fungi which can manage this trick are already familiar to experts in the field.}}
  • Acquainted.
  • * {{quote-book, year=1963, author=(Margery Allingham), title=(The China Governess)
    • , chapter=20 citation , passage=The story struck the depressingly familiar note with which true stories ring in the tried ears of experienced policemen. No one queried it. It was in the classic pattern of human weakness, mean and embarrassing and sad.}}
  • Intimate or friendly.
  • * Shakespeare
    • Be thou familiar , but by no means vulgar.
  • Inappropriately intimate or friendly.
    • (Camden)
  • Of or pertaining to a family; familial.
  • * Byron
    • familiar feuds

    Synonyms

    * (acquainted) acquainted * close, friendly, intimate, personal * (inappropriately intimate or friendly) cheeky, fresh, impudent

    Antonyms

    * (known to one) unfamiliar, unknown * (acquainted) unacquainted * (intimate) cold, cool, distant, impersonal, standoffish, unfriendly

    Derived terms

    * overfamiliar * familiarity * familiarly

    Related terms

    * (l)

    Noun

    (en noun)
  • (obsolete) A member of one's family or household.
  • (obsolete) A close friend.
  • *, II.i.4.2:
    • a friend of mine, that finding a receipt in Brassavola, would needs take hellebore in substance, and try it on his own person; but had not some of his familiars come to visit him by chance, he had by his indiscretion hazarded himself; many such I have observed.
  • An attendant spirit, often in animal form.
    • The witch’s familiar was a black cat.

    External links

    * ----

    freak

    English

    Alternative forms

    * (l) (obsolete) * (l), (l), (l) (Scotland)

    Etymology 1

    From (etyl) freke, .

    Noun

    (en noun)
  • A man, particularly a bold, strong, vigorous man.
  • A fellow; a petulant, young man.

    • Etymology 2

    1560, "sudden change of mind, whim", of uncertain origin. Perhaps related to (etyl) .

    Noun

    (en noun)
  • A sudden causeless change or turn of the mind; a whim of fancy; a capricious prank; a vagary or caprice.
  • Someone or something that is markedly unusual.
  • *
  • *
  • *
  • A hippie.
  • * {{quote-journal
    • , year = 1969 (but cites 1971 source) , first = Paul A. , last = Eschholz , title = Freak compounds for 'argot freaks' , journal = American Speech , volume = 44 , issue = 4 , url = , page = 306-07 , passage = When long-haired, outlandishly dressed, drug-using hippies pilgrimaged to Haight-Ashbury in the early 1960s, they were quickly dubbed freaks'''''; the pejorative appellation was both obvious and intended. It was not long before '''''freak''''' had become practically synonymous with ''hippie''. It seems, however, that with the acceptance of long hair, the appearance and popularity of some rather bizarre fashions, and the emphasis placed upon "doing one's own thing," '''''freak is no longer burdened with all of its former derogatory associations. Instead ... the word is beginning to acquire a quality which is favorable, glamorous, and somehow even admirable. }}
  • A drug addict.
  • * {{quote-journal
    • , year = 1969 (but cites 1971 source) , first = Paul A. , last = Eschholz , title = Freak compounds for "argot freaks" , journal = American Speech , volume = 44 , issue = 4 , url = , page = 306-07 , passage = Smith and Sturges [June 1969] note in their study of the San Francisco drug scene that freak means "anyone addicted to drugs." }}
  • (of a person) A nonconformist, especially in appearance, social behavior, sexual orientation, gender identity, and/or business practices; an oddball, especially in physiology (i.e., "circus freak"); unique, sometimes in a displeasing way.
  • (bodybuilding) A person whose physique has grown far beyond the normal limits of muscular development; often a bodybuilder weighing more than 120 kilos (260 pounds).
  • An enthusiast, or person who has an obsession with, or extreme knowledge of, something.
  • * {{quote-journal
    • , year = 1968 , first = Fred , last = Davis , coauthors = Laura Munoz , title = Heads and freaks: patterns and meanings of drug use among hippies , journal = Journal of Health and Social Behavior , volume = 9 , issue = 2 , url = , page = 156-64 , passage = Anyone ... who seems "hung up" on some idea, activity or interactional disposition, might be called a "freak ." }}
  • * {{quote-journal
    • , year = 1969 (but cites 1971 source) , first = Paul A. , last = Eschholz , title = Freak compounds for "argot freaks" , journal = American Speech , volume = 44 , issue = 4 , url = , page = 306-07 , passage = Presently ... college students ... use freak to denote any kind of enthusiast. }}
    Bob's a real video-game freak . He owns every games console of the last ten years.
  • (informal, sometimes, affectionate) A very sexually perverse individual.
    • She's a freak in the sack!
    Synonyms
    * (sudden change) whim * (sudden change) caprice
    Derived terms
    * fly the freak flag * freak accident * freak flag * freak of nature * freakishly * freaky

    External links

    * *

    Verb

    (en verb)
  • To make greatly distressed and/or a discomposed appearance
  • * 1994 , James Earl Hardy, B-Boy Blues: A Seriously Sexy, Fiercely Funny, Black-On-Black Love Story , (Alyson Publishing), page 107
    • But after one night turned into five days, I was freaking out. I missed him.
  • To be placed or place someone under the influence of a psychedelic drug
  • * 1992 , Peter G. Stafford, Psychedelics Encyclopedia , (Ronin Publishing), page 56
  • To streak; to variegate
  • * 1930 , Robert Seymour Bridges, The Testament of Beauty: A Poem in Four Books , (Literary Criticism), page 20
  • * Thomson
    • Freaked with many a mingled hue.
  • To experience reality withdrawal, or hallucinations (nightmarish), to behave irrational or unconventional due to drug use.
  • To react extremely or irrationally, usually under distress or discomposure
    • * Bulgarian: (trans-mid) (trans-bottom)
    Derived terms
    * freak out

    Adjective

    (-)
  • strange, weird
  • * {{quote-news
    • , year=2011 , date=April 15 , author=Saj Chowdhury , title=Norwich 2 - 1 Nott'm Forest , work=BBC Sport citation , page= , passage=A freak goal gave Forest the lead when a clearance by keeper John Ruddy bounced off Nathan Tyson and flew in.}} * Bulgarian: (trans-mid) (trans-bottom)

    Anagrams

    *