as in unusual
being out of the ordinary
even weather forecasters seemed surprised by the freak hailstorm
Synonyms & Similar Words
Relevance
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
1
as in anomaly
a person, thing, or event that is far from normal
that snowstorm in April was a freak, since our weather is usually much balmier by then
Synonyms & Similar Words
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
2
as in lover
a person with a strong and habitual liking for something
I'm a hockey freak
Synonyms & Similar Words
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
3
as in whim
a sudden impulsive and apparently unmotivated idea or action
suddenly had the bizarre freak to take a road trip across the country
Synonyms & Similar Words
4
as in addict
slang
a person who regularly uses drugs especially illegally
he knew that he'd never get his life in order if he continued to hang out with the crystal meth freaks
Synonyms & Similar Words
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
Example Sentences
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to
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Recent Examples of freak
Dom Amore, Hartford Courant, 6 Jan. 2023
It’s just what happens sometimes and it’s just such a freak accident.
—Mohammad Ahmad, cleveland, 4 Jan. 2023
Ian Bogost, The Atlantic, 31 Mar. 2026
What kind of freak throws a 95 mph splitter?
—Andy Behrens, New York Times, 30 Mar. 2026
See All Example Sentences for freak
Adjective
An Army hockey player was cut in the neck in a freak accident during a game at Sacred Heart on Thursday night, leaving a bloody trail on the ice at Total Mortgage Arena in Bridgeport.
—Dom Amore, Hartford Courant, 6 Jan. 2023
It’s just what happens sometimes and it’s just such a freak accident.
—Mohammad Ahmad, cleveland, 4 Jan. 2023
Noun
But a freak who might be dangerous, because his words and actions could spread.
—Ian Bogost, The Atlantic, 31 Mar. 2026
What kind of freak throws a 95 mph splitter?
—Andy Behrens, New York Times, 30 Mar. 2026
See All Example Sentences for freak
Recent Examples of Synonyms for freak
Adjective
-
Wen says that such unusual shapes could be useful in making a lab-on-a-chip for cell biology or drug development.—
IEEE Spectrum,
IEEE Spectrum,
9 Apr. 2026
-
At 516 feet in width, the unusual structure is roughly 22,000 times smaller than the actual Moon, which with a diameter of 2,159 miles could roughly fit the contiguous United States across one of its halves from east to west.—
Victor Tangermann,
Futurism,
9 Apr. 2026
Noun
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For an organization that’s traded away high-scoring veterans such as Panarin and Chris Kreider and lacks top-end prospects, Perreault stands out as a welcome anomaly.—
Vincent Z. Mercogliano,
New York Times,
8 Apr. 2026
-
The only way forward is to scour the space for signs of anything out of the ordinary, from changes in the ads on the wall to a sudden flood that threatens to wash you away, and to turn back if there’s an anomaly.—
Alison Willmore,
Vulture,
8 Apr. 2026
Noun
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That’s probably why class-crossed lovers make such fertile ground for fiction—look at Heathcliff and Cathy, or poor Scudder and Maurice.—
Cressida Leyshon,
New Yorker,
12 Apr. 2026
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Options for 2026 include food cruises that travel through Burgundy and Provence and a 15-day wine lovers cruise on the Rhine and Seine Rivers.—
Beth Luberecki,
USA Today,
11 Apr. 2026
Noun
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The online community of people who do this kind of analysis are used to their information environment constantly shifting according to the whims of companies and algorithms, Godin said.—
Geoff Brumfiel,
NPR,
10 Apr. 2026
-
Private investors could be hesitant to put billions into an industry that relies so heavily on the whims of whomever is in the White House, said Arne Jacobson, director of the Schatz Energy Research Center at California State Polytechnic University in Humboldt.—
Los Angeles Times,
Los Angeles Times,
9 Apr. 2026
Noun
-
While novelists writing in the years of the War on Drugs were asking this question about serial killers, the general public was asking the same question about drug addicts.—
Literary Hub,
Literary Hub,
1 Apr. 2026
-
AlAnon is a support group for family and friends of alcoholics/addicts.—
Ramona Sentinel,
San Diego Union-Tribune,
27 Mar. 2026
Adjective
-
The extraordinary review of a media outlet’s coverage, revealed in emails obtained by The Star, is unheard of in Kansas City politics, according to one former mayor.—
Kacen Bayless,
Kansas City Star,
7 Apr. 2026
-
My father had lived an extraordinary life as a young Black man born and raised in Montgomery, Alabama, during the 1940s.—
Shayla Martin,
Condé Nast Traveler,
6 Apr. 2026
Noun
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Protein language models, which are AI systems trained on millions of natural protein sequences, can quickly predict how mutations will change a protein’s behavior or design new proteins.—
Stephen D. Turner,
The Conversation,
9 Apr. 2026
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The team used an Alzheimer’s mouse model that includes human familial mutations and develops early signs of the condition.—
Brianna Abbott,
STAT,
7 Apr. 2026
Noun
-
But to think that suckers get an even break when insiders have information that assures them of winning is folly.—
William Mersey,
New York Daily News,
8 Apr. 2026
-
Invasive vines like Virginia creeper, English ivy, and buckthorn can strangle trees, for example, and some aggressive trees may spread via underground suckers and roots.—
Peg Aloi,
The Spruce,
5 Apr. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Freak.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/freak. Accessed 13 Apr. 2026.
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