freak out
3
8.2
- noun
- /frik aʊt/
- NSFW
:
mal viaje
- He described his freak-out as a wild and vivid hallucination that felt completely real.
Examples
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After using the hallucinogenic drug, she experienced a freak-out that left her confused and disoriented.
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During the concert, some fans had a freak-out due to the intense visual effects and loud music.
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My wife had a bit of a freak out and was like what are you doing?
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Wow, this lady having the freak out on the plane.
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At age 13, perhaps, but the fact remains that the freak-out would never have happened if I had been in the room.
Blog text (13) -
Just had a little freak-out, that's all.
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Charlie has one brief moment of freak-out about something I won't let him have.
Blog text (13) -
I was, frankly, pretty disgusted by Andrew Sullivan's massive freak-out.
Blog text (2) -
This annoying period of disappointment will come to an end, and those freak-outs (you had one, or you will have at least one) will seem crazy funny.
Blog text (2)
How Intense
Surface Forms
Morphology
freak + out
The noun 'freak out' (often written 'freak-out') is transparently related to the verb 'freak' (to react very strongly) plus the particle 'out', which typically intensifies or completes the action; a B1 learner who knows these constituents would likely infer an episode of an extreme reaction. However, the specific nuance of a drug-induced hallucination or delusion is a slang extension not directly predictable from the parts, so the meaning is only partially derivable without exposure.
Etymology
Freak out as a noun comes from 1960s slang, when people used it for a sudden, often frightening drug experience that made them feel like a freak and act out of themselves. That's why a 'freak out' means a wild or intense hallucination or delusion.