Delicate vs Freak - What's the difference?
delicate | freak |
Easily damaged or requiring careful handling.
* F. W. Robertson
* {{quote-news
, year=2012
, date=April 23
, author=Angelique Chrisafis
, title=François Hollande on top but far right scores record result in French election
, work=the Guardian
Characterized by a fine structure or thin lines.
Intended for use with fragile items.
Refined; gentle; scrupulous not to trespass or offend; considerate; said of manners, conduct, or feelings.
Of weak health; easily sick; unable to endure hardship.
* Shakespeare
(informal) Unwell, especially because of having drunk too much alcohol.
(obsolete) Addicted to pleasure; luxurious; voluptuous; alluring.
* 1360–1387 , (William Langland), (Piers Plowman) (C-text),
* circa'' 1660 , (John Evelyn) (author), , volume I of II (1901), entry for the 19th of August in 1641,
Pleasing to the senses; refined; adapted to please an elegant or cultivated taste.
Slight and shapely; lovely; graceful.
* circa'' 1603 , (William Shakespeare), ''(Othello) , act II,
Light, or softly tinted; said of a colour.
Of exacting tastes and habits; dainty; fastidious.
Highly discriminating or perceptive; refinedly critical; sensitive; exquisite.
Affected by slight causes; showing slight changes.
A delicate item of clothing, especially underwear or lingerie.
(obsolete) A choice dainty; a delicacy.
(obsolete) A delicate, luxurious, or effeminate person.
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.
}}
(informal, sometimes, affectionate) A very sexually perverse individual.
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
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
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)
strange, weird
* {{quote-news
, year=2011
, date=April 15
, author=Saj Chowdhury
, title=Norwich 2 - 1 Nott'm Forest
, work=BBC Sport
As adjectives the difference between delicate and freak
is that delicate is 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.delicate
English
Adjective
(en adjective)- Those clothes are made from delicate lace.
- The negotiations were very delicate .
- There are some things too delicate and too sacred to be handled rudely without injury to truth.
citation, page= , passage=The final vote between Hollande and Sarkozy now depends on a delicate balance of how France's total of rightwing and leftwing voters line up.}}
- Her face was delicate .
- The spider wove a delicate web.
- There was a delicate pattern of frost on the window.
- Set the washing machine to the delicate cycle.
- delicate''' behaviour; '''delicate''' attentions; '''delicate thoughtfulness
- a delicate''' child; '''delicate health
- a delicate and tender prince
- Please don't speak so loudly: I'm feeling a bit delicate this morning.
passus IX, line 285:
- Þenk þat diues for hus delicat lyf to þe deuel wente.
page 29:
- Haerlem is a very delicate town and hath one of the fairest churches of the Gothic design I had ever seen.
- a delicate''' dish; '''delicate flavour
scene iii, lines 18 and 20–21:
- : She’s a most exquisite lady.…Indeed, she’s a most fresh and delicate creature.
- a delicate shade of blue
- a delicate''' taste; a '''delicate ear for music
- a delicate thermometer
Synonyms
* (easily damaged) fragileNoun
(en noun)- Don't put that in with your jeans: it's a delicate !
- With abstinence all delicates he sees. — Dryden.
- All the vessels, then, which our delicates have, — those I mean that would seem to be more fine in their houses than their neighbours, — are only of the Corinth metal. — Holland.
External links
* * ----freak
English
Alternative forms
* (l) (obsolete) * (l), (l), (l) (Scotland)Etymology 1
From (etyl) freke, .Etymology 2
1560, "sudden change of mind, whim", of uncertain origin. Perhaps related to (etyl) .Noun
(en noun)- Bob's a real video-game freak . He owns every games console of the last ten years.
- She's a freak in the sack!
Synonyms
* (sudden change) whim * (sudden change) capriceDerived terms
* fly the freak flag * freak accident * freak flag * freak of nature * freakishly * freakyExternal links
* *Verb
(en verb)- But after one night turned into five days, I was freaking out. I missed him.
- Freaked with many a mingled hue.
Derived terms
* freak outAdjective
(-)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)
