geek
English
editPronunciation
editEtymology 1
editStarted as carnival slang, likely from the British dialectal term geck (“a fool, dupe, simpleton”) (1510s), apparently from Dutch gek or Low German geck, from an imitative verb found in North Sea Germanic and Scandinavian meaning "to croak, cackle," and also "to mock, cheat" (Dutch gekken, German gecken, Danish gække, Norwegian gakke, Swedish gäcka). The root still survives in the Dutch adjective noun gek (“crazy" or "crazy person”). Compare gink and also Old Norse gikkr (“a pert, rude person; jester; fool”).
Noun
editgeek (plural geeks)
- (dated) A carnival performer specializing in bizarre and unappetizing behavior.
- I once saw a geek bite the head off a live chicken.
- 1965, Bob Dylan (lyrics and music), “Ballad of a Thin Man”, in Highway 61 Revisited:
- You hand in your ticket / And you go watch the geek / Who immediately walks up to you / When he hears you speak / And says, “How does it feel to / be such a freak?”
- (colloquial) A person who is intensely interested in a particular field or hobby and often having limited or nonstandard social skills. Often used with an attributive noun.
- I was a complete computer geek in high school, but I get out a lot more now.
- Most famous actors are really theater geeks at heart.
- (colloquial, by extension) An expert in a technical field, particularly one having to do with computers.
- My laptop’s locked up again. I need a geek.
- 1978 November 14, Jeff Boylan, “Excerpts”, in Bob Wasserman, editor, The Tech[1], volume 98, Cambridge, Massachusetts: MIT, archived from the original on August 10, 2014, page 1:
- I challenge these geeks to show a little spirit and produce an 81 tier bonfire by Friday night. It would also be nice to see a few kegs and some spirit around their awaited creation each night. Until then I rest my case.
- 1983 February 16, dd, “Re: Temporary file names”, in net.misc[2] (Usenet), retrieved 2016-09-21, message-ID <bnews.yale-com.883>:
- i eschew the use of "foo" "bar" and other dill-beak geek dull unimaginative temporary filenames! i find it much better to use names like: ingracl-bbp.goo or dog or ignatz
- 2012, Fiorenza Belussi, Udo Hermann Staber, Managing Networks of Creativity, page 92:
- The community of radio amateurs—trespassing fiddlers on the cutting edge of technological possibilities—prefigured the geek community that was to inhabit Silicon Valley 50 years later.
- (uncountable, colloquial) The subculture of geeks; an esoteric subject of interest that is marginal to the social mainstream; the philosophy, events, and physical artifacts of geeks; geekness.
- 2005, Sean Dooley, The Big Twitch, Sydney: Allen and Unwin, page 265:
- It is totally counter-intuitive. How do these ubernerds get the cute girls? Is it the ultimate triumph of the Bill Gates era, in which geek is the new cool?
- 2007, Kelly Boler, inmag.com:
- "Basically," says [Harry J.] Knowles [founder, 'Ain't It Cool News' website], "it's my job to stay on top of the latest and coolest in geek that's out there, specifically as it relates to the world of film."
- (colloquial) An unfashionable or socially undesirable person.
- Why do you hang around with them? They’re just geeks.
- 1993, Richard Linklater, Dazed and Confused (motion picture), spoken by Wooderson (Matthew McConaughey):
- Yeah, well, listen. You ought to ditch the two geeks you're in the car with now and get in with us. But that's all right, we'll worry about that later.
Synonyms
edit- (carnival performer): freak
- (person intensely interested in a particular field or hobby): otaku, anorak, dork, nerd, propeller head; see also Thesaurus:dork
- (expert in a technical field): freak, guru, hacker
- (unfashionable or socially undesirable person): loser, nonce, waste of space; see also Thesaurus:worthless person
Derived terms
edit- alpha geek
- cybergeek
- fake geek girl
- geekazoid
- geek chic
- geek code
- geekdar
- geekdom
- geekerati
- geekery
- geekette
- geekfest
- geekful
- geekgasm
- geekhead
- geekhood
- geekish
- geekism
- geekless
- geeklet
- geeklike
- geekling
- geekly
- geekness
- geekosphere
- geek-out
- geekout
- geek out
- geeksome
- geekspeak
- geeksploitation
- geeksta
- geekster
- geektastic
- geekwad
- geekwear
- geeky
- gleek
- neek
- nongeek
- roadgeek
- supergeek
- techno geek
- technogeek
- ubergeek
Translations
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Verb
editgeek (third-person singular simple present geeks, present participle geeking, simple past and past participle geeked)
- (intransitive, colloquial) To enthusiastically engage in geek-like or nerdy interests.
- It was our first time at a Star Trek convention and we had an amazing time wandering around and geeking out.
- (intransitive, African-American Vernacular, slang) To be nervous or hyperactive due to using crack cocaine.
- Hey, check out that guy...he's really geeking out pretty bad.
- 1994 August 30, “Stoned Junkee”, in Super Tight[3], performed by UGK:
- I ain't nothin' but a clucker, your typical glass dick suckin' basehead, geekin' motherfucker
- 2022 December 2, “I Can't Save You”[5]performed by Metro Boomin and Future:
- I'm tweakin', I'm geekin', I'm tweakin', I'm geekin'
Usage notes
editDerived terms
editTranslations
editEtymology 2
editProbably related to keek. Compare German gucken (“look”), kieken (“look”) and the dialectal corruption of Dutch keek (“keek”) (from kijk (“look”)), kijken (“to look”). Australian use from Cornish dialect.[1]
Noun
editgeek (plural geeks)
- (Australia, colloquial) A look.
- 2005, Carmel Bird, The Essential Bird, unnumbered page:
- Then he says let′s have a geek at some of the elephant pictures instead.
- Have a geek at this.
Synonyms
editTranslations
editVerb
editgeek (third-person singular simple present geeks, present participle geeking, simple past and past participle geeked)
- (Cornwall) To look; to peep; to stare about intently.
- 1891, Joseph Henry Pearce, Esther Pentreath:
- This gayte bucca-davy, all'ys geekin' round arter a gook.
- 1895, Joseph Thomas, Randigal Rhymes:
- I will geek, I will geek I tell ee; while I have the spirit of a man in me I'll geek.
Synonyms
edit- See Thesaurus:look
References
edit- ^ James Lambert The Macquarie Australian Slang Dictionary (Sydney: Macquarie Library) 2004, page 90.
- Wright, Joseph (1900) The English Dialect Dictionary[6], volume 2, Oxford: Oxford University Press, page 592
See also
editBasque
editNoun
editgeek
Danish
editEtymology
editFrom English geek. First attested in 1995.
Pronunciation
editNoun
editgeek c (singular definite geeken, plural indefinite geeks)
- geek (expert in a technical field, particularly to do with computers; person intensely interested in a particular field or hobby; unfashionable or socially undesirable person)
Declension
editSynonyms
editFrench
editEtymology
editPronunciation
editNoun
editgeek m or f by sense (plural geeks)
- geek (all senses)
Fwâi
editAdjective
editgeek
References
edit- André-Georges Haudricourt et Françoise Ozanne-Rivière, Dictionnaire thématique des langues de la région de Hienghène (Nouvelle-Calédonie) : pije - fwâi - nemi - jawe, Lacito - Documents, Asie-Austronésie 4, SELAF no. 212, Peeters, 1982
Jawe
editAdjective
editgeek
References
edit- André-Georges Haudricourt et Françoise Ozanne-Rivière, Dictionnaire thématique des langues de la région de Hienghène (Nouvelle-Calédonie) : pije - fwâi - nemi - jawe, Lacito - Documents, Asie-Austronésie 4, SELAF no. 212, Peeters, 1982
Nemi
editAdjective
editgeek
References
edit- André-Georges Haudricourt et Françoise Ozanne-Rivière, Dictionnaire thématique des langues de la région de Hienghène (Nouvelle-Calédonie) : pije - fwâi - nemi - jawe, Lacito - Documents, Asie-Austronésie 4, SELAF no. 212, Peeters, 1982
North Frisian
editEtymology
editCompare Dutch gek (“fool, madman”)
Noun
editgeek m
Pije
editAdjective
editgeek
References
edit- André-Georges Haudricourt et Françoise Ozanne-Rivière, Dictionnaire thématique des langues de la région de Hienghène (Nouvelle-Calédonie) : pije - fwâi - nemi - jawe, Lacito - Documents, Asie-Austronésie 4, SELAF no. 212, Peeters, 1982
Portuguese
editEtymology
editUnadapted borrowing from English geek.
Pronunciation
edit
- Hyphenation: geek
Adjective
editgeek (invariable)
- geek (characteristic of those who are interested in video games, films, and series, in collecting themed objects and toys)
Noun
editgeek m or f by sense (plural geeks)
- geek (expert in a technical field, particularly to do with computers)
Spanish
editEtymology
editUnadapted borrowing from English geek.
Pronunciation
editNoun
editgeek m or f by sense (plural geeks)
- English 1-syllable words
- English terms with IPA pronunciation
- Rhymes:English/iːk
- Rhymes:English/iːk/1 syllable
- English terms with audio links
- English lemmas
- English nouns
- English countable nouns
- English dated terms
- English terms with usage examples
- English terms with quotations
- English colloquialisms
- English uncountable nouns
- English verbs
- English intransitive verbs
- African-American Vernacular English
- English slang
- Australian English
- Cornish English
- en:People
- en:Stock characters
- Basque non-lemma forms
- Basque noun forms
- Danish terms derived from English
- Danish terms with IPA pronunciation
- Danish lemmas
- Danish nouns
- Danish common-gender nouns
- French terms borrowed from English
- French terms derived from English
- French 1-syllable words
- French terms with IPA pronunciation
- French terms with audio links
- French lemmas
- French nouns
- French countable nouns
- French terms spelled with K
- French masculine nouns
- French feminine nouns
- French nouns with multiple genders
- French masculine and feminine nouns by sense
- Fwâi lemmas
- Fwâi adjectives
- fwa:Hygiene
- Jawe lemmas
- Jawe adjectives
- jaz:Hygiene
- Nemi lemmas
- Nemi adjectives
- nem:Hygiene
- North Frisian lemmas
- North Frisian nouns
- North Frisian masculine nouns
- Mooring North Frisian
- Pije lemmas
- Pije adjectives
- piz:Hygiene
- Portuguese terms borrowed from English
- Portuguese unadapted borrowings from English
- Portuguese terms derived from English
- Portuguese 2-syllable words
- Portuguese terms with IPA pronunciation
- Portuguese lemmas
- Portuguese adjectives
- Portuguese indeclinable adjectives
- Portuguese terms spelled with K
- Portuguese nouns
- Portuguese countable nouns
- Portuguese masculine nouns
- Portuguese feminine nouns
- Portuguese nouns with multiple genders
- Portuguese masculine and feminine nouns by sense
- Spanish terms borrowed from English
- Spanish unadapted borrowings from English
- Spanish terms derived from English
- Spanish 1-syllable words
- Spanish terms with IPA pronunciation
- Rhymes:Spanish/ik
- Rhymes:Spanish/ik/1 syllable
- Spanish lemmas
- Spanish nouns
- Spanish countable nouns
- Spanish terms spelled with K
- Spanish masculine nouns
- Spanish feminine nouns
- Spanish nouns with multiple genders
- Spanish masculine and feminine nouns by sense