adjective
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slang strange; unconventional; bizarre
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another word for freakish
Other Word Forms
- freakily adverb
- freakiness noun
Etymology
Origin of freaky
Explanation
Something freaky is so weird that it's almost scary. If you have a freaky dream, you might wake with a frightened gasp. Very strange looking animals are freaky, and creepy stories told at night around a campfire are best when they're a little freaky. An uncanny coincidence is freaky, and so are many Halloween costumes. The adjective is an informal way to say "bizarre" or "peculiar." It comes from freak, but the ultimate origin is unknown — although freak originally meant "a very sudden turn of mind."
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.
"Moss is a little bit freaky," says von Konrat.
From Science Daily • Mar. 6, 2026
Still, Mr. Birney’s exotically low-fi imagination makes for a freaky and feverish trip.
From The Wall Street Journal • Jan. 8, 2026
As I reported in detail for my first story at Slate, all those years ago, the market was freaky.
From Slate • Dec. 10, 2025
The origin of their freaky symbiosis is never quite clear, exactly as Garrett wants it to be.
From Salon • Sep. 25, 2025
But now the butterflies....All of a sudden, I felt like the freaky one.
From "Tristan Strong Punches a Hole in the Sky" by Kwame Mbalia
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.
