1 (informal) a person with a very strong interest in a particular subject:
a health / fitness / jazz freak
seealsoCONTROLFREAK
2 (disapproving) a person who is considered to be unusual because of the way they behave, look or think:
She was treated like a freak because she didn't want children. * He's going out with a real freak.
3 (also freak of nature) (sometimes offensive) a person, an animal, a plant or a thing that is not physically normal
4 a very unusual and unexpected event:
By some freak of fate they all escaped without injury.
adjective [onlybeforenoun] (of an event or the weather) very unusual and unexpected:
a freak accident / storm / occurrence * freak weather conditions
verb ~ (sb) (out) (informal) if sb freaks or if sth freaks them, they react very strongly to sth that makes them suddenly feel shocked, surprised, frightened, etc: [V] My parents really freaked when they saw my hair. * [VN] Snakes really freak me out.
