1
as in to bother
to trouble the mind of; to make uneasy
don't talk about death, as it totally freaks me out
Synonyms & Similar Words
Relevance
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
2
as in to lose it
to yield to mental or emotional stress
the landlady totally freaked out when she saw the dead body in the hall
Synonyms & Similar Words
as in meltdown
Synonyms & Similar Words
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of freak (out)
Air Mail, 7 June 2025
What follows is a melee of pratfalls and freak-outs, a guffaw-worthy display by such a fine group of actors.
—Nick Caruso, TVLine, 21 May 2025
Expect multiple scenes of the characters engaging in psychedelic frolics and freak-outs, some of which illustrate their backstories through sweaty, surreal vignettes.
—Kristen Baldwin, EW.com, 19 May 2025
Every so often, the E.R. is visited by rats, little symbols of disrepair and instigators of slapstick freak-outs.
—James Poniewozik, New York Times, 11 Apr. 2025
Enter another Jamie freak-out, which seems to come out of nowhere.
—Marah Eakin, Vulture, 18 Mar. 2025
No one is really disputing it, but the market freak-out hinges on the truthfulness of a single and relatively unknown company.
—Cnn.com Wire Service, The Mercury News, 28 Jan. 2025
The situation at the heart of the movie goes from bad to worse along a linear trajectory, but the horror freak-out promised by its eeriest moments never really bothers to materialize.
—David Ehrlich, IndieWire, 25 Jan. 2025
There's not the same freak-out about immigration in Canada.
—Foreign Affairs, 29 Dec. 2016
Noun
Oasis’s last tour, in 2008, was riven by fights, freak-outs, and sibling rivalry.
—Air Mail, 7 June 2025
What follows is a melee of pratfalls and freak-outs, a guffaw-worthy display by such a fine group of actors.
—Nick Caruso, TVLine, 21 May 2025
Expect multiple scenes of the characters engaging in psychedelic frolics and freak-outs, some of which illustrate their backstories through sweaty, surreal vignettes.
—Kristen Baldwin, EW.com, 19 May 2025
Every so often, the E.R. is visited by rats, little symbols of disrepair and instigators of slapstick freak-outs.
—James Poniewozik, New York Times, 11 Apr. 2025
Enter another Jamie freak-out, which seems to come out of nowhere.
—Marah Eakin, Vulture, 18 Mar. 2025
No one is really disputing it, but the market freak-out hinges on the truthfulness of a single and relatively unknown company.
—Cnn.com Wire Service, The Mercury News, 28 Jan. 2025
The situation at the heart of the movie goes from bad to worse along a linear trajectory, but the horror freak-out promised by its eeriest moments never really bothers to materialize.
—David Ehrlich, IndieWire, 25 Jan. 2025
There's not the same freak-out about immigration in Canada.
—Foreign Affairs, 29 Dec. 2016
Recent Examples of Synonyms for freak (out)
Verb
-
Also on this episode: With Emmy nomination voting ending on Monday, the Roundtable takes one more look at the major categories, how the number of submissions has changed some of the competition and who didn’t bother to join in.—
Michael Schneider,
Variety,
20 June 2025
-
Orban said in February that organisers should not even bother organizing Pride in Budapest this year.—
Reuters,
CNN Money,
19 June 2025
Noun
-
Airline meltdowns, where passengers can’t be rebooked for several days, cause a brief spike in demand.—
Doug Gollan,
Forbes.com,
20 June 2025
-
Some champs did both — the 2022 Astros, 1998 Yankees, 1999 Yankees, 2018 Red Sox, 2001 D-Backs, 2024 Dodgers and the aforementioned 2005 White Sox were all top five in both quality starts and fewest meltdowns.—
Neil Paine,
New York Times,
17 June 2025
Verb
-
While some worry about the unpredictability of U.S. policies in recent months, China has yet to present itself as a dependable alternative, said Matt Gertken, chief geopolitical strategist at BCA Research.—
Lee Ying Shan,Evelyn Cheng,
CNBC,
25 June 2025
-
After studies had linked chronic exposure to high levels of mercury found in fish and whale blubber to developmental delays, scientists began to worry about the element’s effects on the young brain.—
Katherine J. Wu,
The Atlantic,
25 June 2025
Verb
-
The album first cracked the top 10 on the Billboard 200 on the chart dated Aug. 31, 1985, and first reached No. 1 on the chart dated March 8, 1986.—
Paul Grein,
Billboard,
25 June 2025
-
Whoever cracks this first could use a first mover’s advantage to build a hard-to-beat flywheel of highly engaged, big-spending consumers that attracts partner brands and retailers that don’t want to miss out on a new growth channel.—
Jason Del Rey,
Fortune,
25 June 2025
Noun
-
An earlier 2019 study in Aerospace Medicine and Human Performance found turbulence, unfamiliar aircraft noises, and the threat of terror attacks were among the top anxiety triggers.—
Soo Kim,
MSNBC Newsweek,
23 June 2025
-
Too much attention, often understandably driven by shareholder and financial analyst anxiety, is being placed on the lagging indicators of current performance.—
Paul Laudicina,
Forbes.com,
23 June 2025
Verb
-
The man, wearing a black polo and slacks, looked up from a table saw, alarmed.—
Dan Greene,
New Yorker,
21 June 2025
-
The potential downside of glucose monitoring is that people who are (perhaps needlessly) alarmed by their CGM data will swap out healthy carbs such as fruit and whole grains for foods that are less healthy—butter, for example, or bacon and red meat.—
Olga Khazan,
The Atlantic,
19 June 2025
Verb
-
The tests demonstrate that, at least in theory, this synthetic skin could be melted down and molded to fit various parts of a robot’s body and still sense touch.—
Mack DeGeurin,
Popular Science,
12 June 2025
-
The 28 statues of saints were beheaded, mistaken for French kings, and some of the bells were removed and melted down. 1804: Napoleon Bonaparte crowned himself emperor of France with the pope in attendance in Notre-Dame, and portions of the cathedral were restored.—
Marla Jo Fisher,
Oc Register,
21 May 2025
Noun
-
The Context Global markets went into a tailspin in April, when Trump first rolled out sweeping global tariffs targeting almost every major U.S. trading partner.—
Sonam Sheth,
MSNBC Newsweek,
23 June 2025
-
The weight of all this sent Samuele into a tailspin.—
Curtis Bunn,
NBC news,
19 June 2025
Cite this Entry
“Freak (out).” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/freak%20%28out%29. Accessed 1 Jul. 2025.
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