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.
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
The novel recounts the history and hardships of the Binewski clan, carnival folk whose pater- and materfamilias, Al and Crystal Lil, create their own freak show.
From Washington Post ● Nov. 11, 2022
"From the slums of Cardiff to the verge of Hollywood, via Queen Victoria and being a freak show star of the world's most famous circus," said great nephew Bob Osbourne.
From BBC ● Aug. 7, 2020
I paint a girl in a circus freak show with wide, stumpy legs and a face shaped like a perfect circle.
From "Starfish" by Akemi Dawn Bowman
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.
