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Rare vs Freak - What's the difference?

rare | freak |

As adjectives the difference between rare and freak

is that rare is (cooking|particularly meats) cooked very lightly, so the meat is still red (in the case of steak or beef in the general sense) or rare can be very uncommon; scarce or rare can be (obsolete) early while freak is strange, weird.

As verbs the difference between rare and freak

is that rare is (us|intransitive) to rear, rise up, start backwards while freak is to make greatly distressed and/or a discomposed appearance.

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.

rare

English

Etymology 1

From a dialectal variant of rear, from (etyl) rere, from (etyl) . More at (l).

Alternative forms

* (l), (l) (UK)

Adjective

(en-adj)
  • (cooking, particularly meats) Cooked very lightly, so the meat is still red (in the case of steak or beef in the general sense).
  • * Dryden
    • New-laid eggs, which Baucis' busy care / Turned by a gentle fire, and roasted rare .
    Synonyms
    * (cooked very lightly) sanguinary
    Antonyms
    * (cooked very lightly) well done
    Derived terms
    * medium-rare

    Etymology 2

    From (etyl) rare, from (etyl) rare, .

    Adjective

    (er)
  • Very uncommon; scarce.
  • * {{quote-magazine, year=2013, month=May-June, author= David Van Tassel], [http://www.americanscientist.org/authors/detail/lee-dehaan Lee DeHaan
    • , title= Wild Plants to the Rescue , volume=101, issue=3, magazine=(American Scientist) , passage=Plant breeding is always a numbers game.
  • (label) Thin; of low density.
    • Synonyms
    * (very uncommon) scarce, selcouth, seld, seldsome, selly, geason, uncommon
    Antonyms
    * (very uncommon) common
    Derived terms
    * rare bird * rare earth mineral
    Related terms
    * rarity

    Etymology 3

    Variant of rear .

    Verb

    (rar)
  • (US) To rear, rise up, start backwards.
  • * 2006 , Thomas Pynchon, Against the Day , Vintage 2007, p. 328:
    • Frank pretended to rare back as if bedazzled, shielding his eyes with a forearm.
  • (US) To rear, bring up, raise.
    • Usage notes
    * (rft-sense) Principal current, non-literary use is of the present participle raring' with a verb in "'''raring''' to". The principal verb in that construction is ''go''. Thus, '''''raring''' to go'' ("eager (to start something)") is the expression in which '''''rare is most often encountered as a verb.

    Etymology 4

    Compare rather, rath.

    Adjective

    (en adjective)
  • (obsolete) early
  • * Chapman
    • Rude mechanicals that rare and late / Work in the market place.

    Anagrams

    * ----

    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

    *