different between fool vs freak

English

Etymology

From Middle English fole (“fool”), from Old French fol (cf. modern French fou (“mad”)) from Latin follis. Doublet of follis.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /fu?l/
• Rhymes: -u?l

Noun

fool (plural fools)

1. (derogatory) A person with poor judgment or little intelligence.

   You were a fool to cross that busy road without looking.

   The village fool threw his own shoes down the well.

   • 1743, Benjamin Franklin

     Experience keeps a dear school, but fools will learn in no other.

   • 1841, Charles Dickens, Barnaby Rudge Chapter 13

     ‘If I coloured at all, Mr Edward,’ said Joe, ‘which I didn’t know I did, it was to think I should have been such a fool as ever to have any hope of her. She’s as far out of my reach as—as Heaven is.’

   • 1895, Rudyard Kipling, If—

     If you can bear to hear the truth you've spoken
     ?Twisted by knaves to make a trap for fools

   • 2001, Starsailor, Poor Misguided Fool

     You're just a poor misguided fool
     Who thinks they know what I should do
     A line for me and a line for you
     I lose my right to a point of view.

   • 2008, Adele, Crazy for You

     And every time I'm meant to be acting sensible
     You drift into my head
     And turn me into a crumbling fool.

2. (historical) A jester; a person whose role was to entertain a sovereign and the court (or lower personages).
   • 1896, Frederick Peterson IN Popular Science Monthly Volume 50 December 1896 , Idiots Savants

     This court fool could say bright things on occasion, but his main use to the ladies and lords of the palace was to serve as victim to practical jokes, cruel, coarse, and vulgar enough to be appreciated perhaps in the Bowery.

3. (informal) Someone who derives pleasure from something specified.
   • 1671, John Milton, Samson Agonistes

     Can they think me […] their fool or jester?

   • 1975, Foghat, "Fool for the City" (song), Fool for the City (album):

     I'm a fool for the city.

4. (slang, chiefly African-American Vernacular) Buddy, dude, man.
   • 2010, G.C. Deuce, From the Gutter to the Grave: An American Hood Novel, Xlibris Corporation (?ISBN), page 291:

     Upon opening the door, Trech was suddenly drawn aback by the shocking presence of the armed goon standing directly in front of him. “Yo, what up fool? […] ”

   • 2012, Peron Long, Livin' Ain't Easy, Urban Books (?ISBN)

     “What up, fool?” he finally responded. “Not too much; fell asleep watching your boys get their asses kicked,” I told him, referring to the Carolina Cougars, the last team he played for before he got sick.

   • 2014, Hitta Lo, Bracing Season I, Kaleidoscopic Publishing (?ISBN)

     Fame leaves out the house and walks to the BP gas station on Alabama Avenue. On the way there he sees his man Mark posted up at the rec center and walks over to holla at him. “What’s up fool?” Mark says while dapping Fame up.

   • 2018, Keith L. Bell, Drought Season Over: The Sequel, Xlibris Corporation (?ISBN)

     “What up fool?” Lil Slim said noticing the seriousness in Lil Kilo’s voice. “You ain’t switched up on us have you.” Lil Fresh looked at Lil Kilo like where that come from. “Nigga I’ll neva switch up.” Lil Slim said feeling a little offended.

   • 2020, J. Lewis Johnson, A Dark Night in the Fieldhouse:

     [page 10:] "I knew you'd be scared," Reggie laughed. "What are you doin', foo? You must be crazy. You don't scare me." "Then why did you almost fall out of that chair? I scare everyone."

     [page 38:] "This is coo," said Fred. "It's almost like being there." "We are there, foo!" said Reggie as the boys slapped palms.

5. (cooking) A type of dessert made of puréed fruit and custard or cream.

   an apricot fool; a gooseberry fool

6. (often capitalized, Fool) A particular card in a tarot deck, representing a jester.

Synonyms

• (person with poor judgment): See also Thesaurus:fool
• (person who entertained a sovereign): jester, joker
• (person who talks a lot of nonsense): gobshite

Derived terms

Translations

Verb

fool (third-person singular simple present fools, present participle fooling, simple past and past participle fooled)

1. To trick; to deceive
   • 1918, Florence White Williams, The Little Red Hen

     She bit it gently and found that it resembled a worm in no way whatsoever as to taste although because it was long and slender, a Little Red Hen might easily be fooled by its appearance.
2. To act in an idiotic manner; to act foolishly
   • 1681/1682, John Dryden, The Spanish Fryar

     Is this a time for fooling?

   • 1972, Judy Blume, Tales of a Fourth Grade Nothing (page 56)

     She's always complaining that she got stuck with the worst possible committee. And that me and Jimmy fool more than we work.

Synonyms

• See also Thesaurus:deceive

Derived terms

Translations

Adjective

fool (comparative fooler or more fool, superlative foolest or most fool)

1. (informal) Foolish.
   • 2011, Gayle Kaye, Sheriff Takes a Bride

     That was a fool thing to do. You could have gotten yourself shot

   • 1909, Gene Stratton-Porter, A Girl of the Limberlost

     Of all the fool, fruitless jobs, making anything of a creature that begins by deceiving her, is the foolest a sane woman ever undertook.

Derived terms

References

Anagrams

• Olof, floo, loof

Middle English

Etymology 1

From Old French fol (French fou (“mad”)) from Latin follis.

Noun

fool

1. Alternative form of fole (“fool”)

Adjective

fool

1. Alternative form of fole (“foolish”)

Etymology 2

From Old English fola.

Noun

fool

1. Alternative form of fole (“foal”)

Rohingya

Etymology

From Sanskrit ???? (p?gala)

Noun

fool

1. mad man

English

Alternative forms

• freake (obsolete)
• freik, freke, frick (Scotland)

Etymology 1

1560, "sudden change of mind, whim", of uncertain origin. Probably from a dialectal word related to Middle English frekynge (“capricious behaviour; whims”) and Middle English friken, frikien (“to move briskly or nimbly”), from Old English frician (“to leap, dance”), or Middle English frek (“insolent, daring”), from Old English frec (“desirous, greedy, eager, bold, daring”), from Proto-Germanic *frekaz, *frakaz (“hard, efficient, greedy, bold, audacious”) (in which case, it would be related to the noun under Etymology 2). Compare Old High German freh (“eager”), Old English fr?cne (“dangerous, daring, courageous, bold”).

Pronunciation

• enPR: fr?k, IPA^(key): /f?i?k/
• Rhymes: -i?k

Noun

freak (plural freaks)

1. A sudden change of mind

   Synonyms: whim, vagary, caprice, fancy; see also Thesaurus:whim
2. Someone or something that is markedly unusual or unpredictable.

   Synonyms: anomaly, outlier; see also Thesaurus:anomaly
3. A hippie.

   Synonyms: longhair, treehugger
4. A drug addict.

   Synonyms: druggie, user; see also Thesaurus:addict
5. (of a person) A nonconformist, especially in appearance, social behavior, sexual orientation, gender identity, and/or business practices; an oddball, especially in physiology (e.g., "circus freak"); unique, sometimes in a displeasing way.

   Synonyms: odd duck, weirdo; see also Thesaurus:strange person, Thesaurus:maverick

6. (bodybuilding) A person whose physique has grown far beyond the normal limits of muscular development; often a bodybuilder weighing more than 260 pounds (117.934 kilos).
7. An enthusiast, or person who has an obsession with, or extreme knowledge of, something.

   Synonyms: fanatic, geek; see also Thesaurus:fan

8. (informal, sometimes endearing) A very sexually perverse individual.

   Synonyms: horn dog, hypersexual, pervert; see also Thesaurus:libidinist

9. (dated) A streak of colour; variegation.

   Synonyms: (birds) superciliary, vein

Derived terms

Translations

Verb

freak (third-person singular simple present freaks, present participle freaking, simple past and past participle freaked)

1. (intransitive) To react extremely or irrationally, usually under distress or discomposure.
   • 1994, James Earl Hardy, B-Boy Blues: A Seriously Sexy, Fiercely Funny, Black-On-Black Love Story, (Alyson Publishing), page 107

     But after one night turned into five days, I was freaking out. I missed him.

2. (transitive) To make greatly distressed and/or a discomposed appearance.
3. (slang, transitive, intransitive) To be placed or place someone under the influence of a psychedelic drug, (especially) to experience reality withdrawal, or hallucinations (nightmarish), to behave irrational or unconventional due to drug use.
4. (transitive, dated) To streak; to variegate
   • 1930, Robert Seymour Bridges, The Testament of Beauty: A Poem in Four Books, (Literary Criticism), page 20

     […] in fine diaper of silver and mother-of-pearl freaking the intense azure; Now scurrying close overhead, wild ink-hued random racers that fling sheeted […]

Derived terms

• freak out

Translations

Adjective

freak (not comparable)

1. Strange, weird, unexpected.

   Synonyms: freakish; see also Thesaurus:strange, Thesaurus:lucky

Derived terms

• freak accident

Translations

Further reading

• freak in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, G. & C. Merriam, 1913.
• freak in The Century Dictionary, New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., 1911.

Etymology 2

From Middle English freke, freike (“a bold man, warrior, man, creature”), from Old English freca (“a bold man, warrior, hero”), from Proto-Germanic *frekô (“an active or eager man, warrior, wolf”), from *frekaz (“active, bold, desirous, greedy”), from Proto-Indo-European *pereg-, *spereg- (“to shrug, be quick, twitch, splash, blast”). Cognate with Old Norse freki (“greedy or avaricious one, a wolf”), Old High German freh (“eager”), German frech, Old English fr?cne (“dangerous, daring, courageous, bold”).

Pronunciation

• enPR: fr?k, IPA^(key): /f?i?k/
• Rhymes: -i?k

Noun

freak (plural freaks)

1. A man, particularly a bold, strong, vigorous man.
2. (Britain dialectal, Scotland) A fellow; a petulant young man.

Anagrams

• Kafer, faker

Dutch

Etymology

Borrowed from English freak.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /frik/, /fri?k/
• Hyphenation: freak
• Rhymes: -ik

Noun

freak m (plural freaks, diminutive freakje n)

1. freak (oddball)
2. freak (dedicated fan)