geek

English

Etymology

From British dialect geck (“fool”) from Low German geck, from Middle Low German; The root still survives in Dutch gek (“crazy”) or gekkie (“crazy person”) in Alsatian word Gickeleshut (“geek's hat”).

Pronunciation

• enPR: gēk, IPA: /ɡiːk/, SAMPA: /gi:k/
• Rhymes: -iːk

Noun

Wikipedia geek (plural geeks)

1. (dated) A carnival performer specializing in bizarre and unappetizing behavior.

   I once saw a geek bite the head off a live chicken.

2. (colloquial) A person who is intensely interested in a particular field or hobby and usually asocial. 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.

3. (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.

   Do you need a hardware geek or a software geek?

4. (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.
   • 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."
5. (colloquial) An unfashionable or socially undesirable person.

   Why do you hang around with them? They’re just geeks.

6. (Australian, colloquial) A look.

   Have a geek at this.

Synonyms

• (Australia, look): butcher’s, gander

Derived terms

• geek chic
• geek code
• geekdom
• geekery
• geekly
• geek out
• geeky

Translations

expert in a technical field, particularly to do with computers

Arabic: غيك (ar) (ghiik) m., مهوس (ar) (muhawwas) m. Armenian: please add this translation if you can Chinese: Mandarin: 極客 (cmn), 极客 (cmn) (jíkè), 宅男 (cmn) (zháinán) (male), 宅女 (cmn) (zháinǚ) (female) Danish: geek (da) c., nørd (da) c. Dutch: computerfreak (nl) m., freak (nl) m. Finnish: nörtti (fi), friikki (fi) French: geek (fr) m. Georgian: please add this translation if you can

German: Geek (de) m., Freak (de) m. Greek: σπασίκλας (el) m. Italian: geek (it), hacker (it), smanettone (it) Japanese: オタク (ja) (otaku), ギーク (ja) (gīku) Persian: متخصص کامپیوتر (fa) Polish: geek (pl) m. Romanian: please add this translation if you can Russian: гик (ru) (gik) m. Spanish: computín (es) m. Turkish: please add this translation if you can

person intensely interested in a particular field or hobby

Danish: geek (da) c., nørd (da) c. Dutch: freak (nl) m. Finnish: friikki (fi), -hullu (fi)

Russian: чудак (ru) (čudák) m. Serbo-Croatian: geek (sh) m. Spanish: friki (es), flipado (es) m., chiflado (es) m.

subculture

Finnish: friikkiys (fi), -hulluus (fi)

unfashionable or socially undesirable person

Danish: geek (da) c., nørd (da) c. Dutch: seut (nl) f. Finnish: friikki (fi)

Russian: чудак (ru) (čudák) m., чудик (ru) (čúdik) m. Spanish: friki (es)

carnival performer

Dutch: straatartiest (nl) m.

Finnish: ilveilijä (fi)

Australian: look — see look

See also

• dork
• freak
• guru
• hacker
• loser
• nerd

Verb

geek (third-person singular simple present geeks, present participle geeking, simple past and past participle geeked)

1. (colloquial) To get high on cocaine.

Translations

to get high on cocaine

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Danish

Etymology

From English geek. [1995]

Pronunciation

• IPA: /ɡiːk/, [ɡ̊iːɡ̊]

Noun

geek c.

1. 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)

Synonyms

• nørd