freak show
Americannoun
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a display of people or animals with unusual or grotesque physical features, as at a circus or carnival sideshow.
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any ludicrous, bizarre, or dehumanizing occasion, function, performance, etc.; grotesque, circuslike event.
endless interviews and auditions that became a ridiculous freak show.
Etymology
Origin of freak show
First recorded in 1885–90
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
A freak show about a freak show, “O.J. Unseen: Exploitation of Evil” is a deep documentary dive into a septic TV concept that even now seems hard to grasp.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 2, 2026
Or is this really just a freak show?
From Slate ● May 7, 2026
Like most reality TV, it's closer to a freak show than an attempt to reflect the average person's experiences.
From Salon ● Dec. 19, 2024
On Maxwell's hundred: "That was crazy. A hundred-run partnership, I think we contributed equally... That was just a freak show, you've got no options as a bowler when someone is running as hot as that."
From BBC ● Oct. 25, 2023
The three guys, who I sort of knew from classes and lunch, were all talking about going to a freak show in the back of the carnival.
From "Tangerine" by Edward Bloor
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
