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Reek vs Geek - What's the difference?

reek | geek |

As nouns the difference between reek and geek

is that reek is a strong unpleasant smell or reek can be (ireland) a hill; a mountain while geek is (dated) a carnival performer specializing in bizarre and unappetizing behavior or geek can be (australia|colloquial) a look.

As verbs the difference between reek and geek

is that reek is (archaic|intransitive) to be emitted or exhaled, emanate, as of vapour or perfume while geek is (colloquial) to get high on cocaine.

reek

English

Etymology 1

From (etyl) rek, ‘smoke, fog’, Albanian regj ‘to tan’).Vladimir Orel, A Handbook of Germanic Etymology , s.vv. “*raukiz”, “*reukanan”(Leiden: Brill, 2003), 299:303.

Noun

(-)
  • A strong unpleasant smell.
  • Vapor; steam; smoke; fume.
  • * Shakespeare
    • As hateful to me as the reek of a limekiln.

    Etymology 2

    From (etyl) reken ‘to smoke’, from (etyl) . See above.

    Verb

    (en verb)
  • (archaic) To be emitted or exhaled, emanate, as of vapour or perfume.
  • To have or give off a strong, unpleasant smell.
    • You reek of perfume.
    Your fridge reeks of egg.
  • (figuratively) To be evidently associated with something unpleasant.
    • The boss appointing his nephew as a director reeks of nepotism.

    Etymology 3

    Probably a transferred use (after Irish cruach stack (of corn), pile, mountain, hill) of a variant of rick (with which it is cognate).

    Noun

    (s)
  • (Ireland) A hill; a mountain.

    • References

    * * * * * Notes:

    Anagrams

    * ----

    geek

    English

    (wikipedia geek)

    Etymology 1

    From the British dialectal term .

    Noun

    (en noun)
  • (dated) A carnival performer specializing in bizarre and unappetizing behavior.
    • I once saw a geek bite the head off a live chicken.
  • (colloquial) A person who is intensely interested in a particular field or hobby and usually asocial. Often used with an attributive noun.
    • I was a complete computer geek in high school, but I get out a lot more now.
    Most famous actors are really theater geeks at heart.
  • (colloquial, by extension) An expert in a technical field, particularly one having to do with computers.
    • My laptop’s locked up again. I need a geek .
    Do you need a hardware geek''' or a software '''geek ?
  • (colloquial) The subculture of geeks; an esoteric subject of interest that is marginal to the social mainstream; the philosophy, events, and physical artifacts of geeks.
  • * 2007' '''Kelly Boler, ''inmag.com'':''' ''"Basically," says [Harry J.] Knowles [founder, 'Ain't It Cool News' website], "it's my job to stay on top of the latest and coolest in '''geek that's out there, specifically as it relates to the world of film."
  • (colloquial) An unfashionable or socially undesirable person.
    • Why do you hang around with them? They’re just geeks .
    Derived terms
    * geek chic * geek code * geekdom * geekery * geekly * geek out * geeky
    See also
    * dork * freak * guru * hacker * loser * nerd

    Verb

    (en verb)
  • (colloquial) To get high on cocaine.

    • Etymology 2

    Probably related to keek; compare (etyl) .

    Noun

    (en noun)
  • (Australia, colloquial) A look.
  • * 2005 , , The Essential Bird , unnumbered page,
    • Then he says let?s have a geek at some of the elephant pictures instead.
    Have a geek at this.
    Synonyms
    * (sense) , gander