What's the difference between
and
Enter two words to compare and contrast their definitions, origins, and synonyms to better understand how those words are related.

Freak vs Monster - What's the difference?

freak | monster |

As nouns the difference between freak and monster

is that freak is a man, particularly a bold, strong, vigorous man while monster is a terrifying and dangerous, wild or fictional creature.

As verbs the difference between freak and monster

is that freak is to make greatly distressed and/or a discomposed appearance while monster is to make into a monster; to categorise as a monster; to demonise.

As adjectives the difference between freak and monster

is that freak is strange, weird while monster is very large; worthy of a monster.

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

    *

    monster

    English

    Alternative forms

    * monstre (obsolete)

    Noun

    (en noun)
  • A terrifying and dangerous, wild or fictional creature.
  • A bizarre or whimsical creature.
    • The children decided Grover was a cuddly monster .
  • An extremely cruel or antisocial person, especially a criminal.
    • Get away from those children, you meatheaded monster !
  • A horribly deformed person.
  • * 1837 , Medico-Chirurgical Review (page 465)
    • Deducting then these cases, we have a large proportion of imperfect foetuses, which belonged to twin conceptions, and in which, therefore, the circulation of the monster may have essentially depended on that of the sound child.
  • (figuratively) A badly behaved child, a brat.
    • Sit still, you little monster !
  • (informal) Something unusually large.
    • Have you seen those powerlifters on TV? They're monsters .
  • (informal) A prodigy; someone very talented in a specific domain.
    • That dude playing guitar is a monster .

    Derived terms

    * Cookie Monster * corporate monster * monstrosity * Frankenstein's monster * the Loch Ness monster * monster truck

    Related terms

    * monstrous * monstrously

    Adjective

    (-)
  • Very large; worthy of a monster.
    • He has a monster appetite.
    (Alexander Pope)
  • * '>citation
  • *
  • *

    • Synonyms

    * (very large) gigantic, monstrous

    Verb

    (en verb)
  • To make into a monster; to categorise as a monster; to demonise.
  • * 1983 , Michael Slater, Dickens and Women , page 290,
    • A Tale of Two Cities'' and ''Great Expectations feature four cases of women monstered by passion. Madame Defarge is ‘a tigress’, Mrs Joe a virago, Molly (Estella?s criminal mother) ‘a wild beast tamed’ and Miss Havisham a witch-like creature, a ghastly combination of waxwork and skeleton.
  • * 2005 , Diana Medlicott, The Unbearable Brutality of Being: Casual Cruelty in Prison and What This Tells Us About Who We Really Are'', Margaret Sönser Breen (editor), ''Minding Evil: Explorations of Human Iniquity , page 82,
    • The community forgives: this is in deep contrast to offenders that emerge from prison and remain stigmatised and monstered , often unable to get work or housing.
  • * 2011 , Stephen T. Asma, On Monsters: An Unnatural History of Our Worst Fears , page 234,
    • Demonizing or monstering other groups has even become part of the cycle of American politics.
  • To behave as a monster to; to terrorise.
  • * 1968 , , Robert Lowell: A Collection of Critical Essays , page 145,
    • Animals in our world have been monstered' by human action as much as the free beasts of the pre-lapsarian state were ' monstered by the primal crime.
  • * 2009 , Darius Rejali, Torture and Democracy , page 292,
    • In 2002, American interrogators on the ground in Afghanistan developed a technique they called “monstering'.” The commander “instituted a new rule that a prisoner could be kept awake and in the booth for as long as an interrogator could last.” One “' monstering ” interrogator engaged in this for thirty hours.177
  • * 2010 , Joshua E. S. Phillips, None of Us Were Like This Before: American Soldiers and Torture , page 39,
    • The interrogators asked members of the 377th Military Police Company to help them with monstering , and the MPs complied.
  • (chiefly, Australia) To harass.
  • * {{quote-news, year=2009, date=January 31, author=Leo Schlink, title=Match looms as final for the ages, work=Herald Sun citation
    • , passage=Andy Roddick has been monstered by both Federer and Nadal and suffered a 6-2 7-5 7-5 semi-final loss at the hands of the Swiss champion. }}

    Anagrams

    * English refractory feminine rhymes ----