Freaky

How to spell freaky

6 letters · 2 syllables

How to pronounce freaky

Say the part in capitals loudest.

What does freaky mean?

1. adjectiveStrange, eerie, or unsettling in a way that seems abnormal.

Freaky in a sentence

• The abandoned hospital had a freaky silence that put everyone on edge.

• It was a freaky coincidence that both strangers had the same tattoo.

Where does freaky come from?

Language of origin: Germanic

The base word 'freak' surfaced in English during the 1500s with the meaning of a sudden whim or capricious notion, and its earlier roots are genuinely uncertain; one plausible link is to the Old English 'frician', meaning 'to dance' or 'move briskly', though the trail is faint. Over time 'freak' broadened from a passing fancy to anything strikingly abnormal, including the 'freaks of nature' that filled nineteenth-century sideshows. The adjective 'freaky' was then formed simply by adding the common '-y' suffix that turns a noun into a quality, much as 'risk' yields 'risky'. By the twentieth century 'freaky' had settled into casual speech to describe anything strange, eerie, or unsettling. The spelling stays close to its parent 'freak', so the only real trap is remembering that the silent-looking 'ea' vowel is kept intact and the final letter is a plain 'y'.

How the word is built

• freak (a sudden odd happening, an oddity)
• -y (adjective suffix: characterised by)