freak show

noun

1

dated : an exhibition (such as a sideshow) featuring people with physical abnormalities

2

: something that attracts attention for being strange, abnormal, or unseemly

… people who are turning our politics into a freak show for their own cynical or sanctimonious reasons.

—David Von Drehle

Examples of freak show in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

The only plants for Wareheim are the misshapen ones, the otherworldly freak shows. — Gary Baum, HollywoodReporter, 13 Aug. 2026

Mamdani sparks online frenzy as 'absurd' housing claim is floated at 'freak show' event. — FOXNews.com, 17 July 2026

All sporting events are, fundamentally, freak shows. — Ellen Cushing, The Atlantic, 25 May 2026

This many people want to see a freak show. — David Remnick, New Yorker, 22 May 2026

Word History

First Known Use

1887, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Rhymes for freak show

• acknow
• aglow
• ago
• airglow
• aloe
• altho
• although
• ammo
• backflow
• backhoe
• banjo
• barbeau