English Explanatory Dictionary

geek

English dictionary entry

Meanings

noun
  1. A carnival performer specializing in bizarre and unappetizing behavior.
  2. 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.
  3. An expert in a technical field, particularly one having to do with computers.
  4. 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.
  5. An unfashionable or socially undesirable person.
verb
  1. To perform bizarre and unpleasant feats as part of a carnival.
  2. To enthusiastically engage in geek-like or nerdy interests.
  3. To be nervous or hyperactive due to using crack cocaine.
  4. To be under the influence of a mood-altering drug.
noun
  1. A look.
verb
  1. To look; to peep; to stare about intently.

Pronunciation

gēk /ɡiːk/ En-us-geek.ogg EN-AU ck1 geek.ogg

Word forms

geek geeks geeking geeked

Etymology

Started 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”).

Synonyms

anorak dork nerd propeller head nonce waste of space freak buff otaku hacker tech guru loser butcher’s gander dekko look

Related words

geek someone's head up

Derived words

alpha geek avgeek 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 geek out geekout geeksome geekspeak geeksploitation geeksta geekster geeksville geektastic geekwad geekwear geeky gleek neek nongeek pencil geek roadgeek speed geeking supergeek techno geek technogeek ubergeek geeked geeker
This entry uses open data from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA/GFDL). Word forms are used for search and are not indexed as separate pages.
Back to search All on G Russian dictionary Dahl dictionary