geek

English

Pronunciation

• enPR: gēk
• (Received Pronunciation, General Australian, New Zealand, India) IPA^(key): /ɡiːk/

  • Audio (General Australian):

    (file)

• (General American, Canada, Scotland) IPA^(key): /ɡik/

  • Audio (US):

    (file)

• Rhymes: -iːk
• Hyphenation: geek

Etymology 1

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”).

Noun

geek (plural geeks)

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

   Synonym: freak

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

   • 1965, Bob Dylan, “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?”

2. (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.

   Synonyms: anorak, buff, dork, freak, nerd, otaku, propeller head

   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.

   Synonyms: freak, hacker, tech guru

   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 10 August 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 21 September 2016, 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.

4. (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."

5. (colloquial) An unfashionable or socially undesirable person.

   Synonyms: loser, nonce, waste of space; see also Thesaurus:worthless person

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

   • 1988, Young Guns (film)

     But you can't be any geek off the street, gotta be handy with the steel, if you know what I mean, earn your keep.

   • 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.

Derived terms

• 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
• geekout
• geek out
• geek-out
• geeksome
• geekspeak
• geeksploitation
• geeksta
• geekster
• geeksville
• geektastic
• geekwad
• geekwear
• geeky
• gleek
• neek
• nongeek
• pencil geek
• roadgeek
• speed geeking
• supergeek
• techno geek
• technogeek
• ubergeek

Translations

expert in a technical field, particularly to do with computers

• Arabic: غِيك m (ḡīk), مُهَوَّس m (muhawwas)
• Armenian: գիք (gikʻ)
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 極客 / 极客 (zh) (jíkè), 宅男 (zh) (zháinán) (male), 宅女 (zh) (zháinǚ) (female)

• Danish: geek c, nørd (da) c
• Dutch: computerfreak (nl) m, freak (nl) m, techneut (nl) m
• Estonian: giik, friik
• Finnish: nörtti (fi), friikki (fi)
• French: geek (fr) m
• Georgian: please add this translation if you can
• German: Geek (de) m, Freak (de) m, Spezialist (de) m
• Greek: κομπιουτεράς (el) m (kompiouterás)
• Italian: geek (it), hacker (it), smanettone (it)
• Japanese: オタク (ja) (otaku), ギーク (ja) (gīku)
• Korean: 오타쿠 (ko) (otaku)
• Navajo: ntsékeesii, naaltsoos náyiijáhí
• Persian: گیک (fa) (gik)
• Polish: geek (pl) m
• Portuguese: geek (pt) m or f
• Romanian: please add this translation if you can
• Russian: гик (ru) m (gik) (slang), компью́терщик (ru) m (kompʹjútɛrščik), компью́терщица (ru) f (kompʹjútɛrščica)
• Spanish: computín (es) m
• Swedish: nörd (sv) c
• Turkish: please add this translation if you can

person intensely interested in a particular field or hobby

• Danish: geek c, nørd (da) c
• Dutch: freak (nl) m
• Estonian: friik
• Finnish: friikki (fi), -hullu
• French: geek (fr) m
• German: Spezialist (de) m, Freak (de) m
• Greek: μανιώδης (el) m (maniódis)
• Hungarian: kocka (hu), stréber (hu)
• Italian: maniaco (it) m
• Japanese: マニア (ja) (mania), オタク (ja) (otaku)
• Korean: 마니아 (ko) (mania), 오타쿠 (ko) (otaku)
• Navajo: ntsékeesii
• Persian: خوره (fa) (xore)
• Russian: чуда́к (ru) m (čudák), одержи́мый (ru) m (oderžímyj), чо́кнутый (ru) m (čóknutyj), поме́шанный (ru) m (poméšannyj), фана́тик (ru) m (fanátik) (informal)
• Serbo-Croatian: geek m
• Spanish: friki (es), flipado (es) m, chiflado (es) m
• Swedish: nörd (sv) c

subculture

• Finnish: friikkiys (fi), -hulluus

unfashionable or socially undesirable person

• Danish: geek c, nørd (da) c
• Dutch: seut (nl) f
• Finnish: friikki (fi)
• Greek: σπασίκλας (el) m (spasíklas)
• Hebrew: חְנוּן (he) m (ḥnun)
• Russian: чуда́к (ru) m (čudák), чу́дик (ru) m (čúdik)
• Spanish: friki (es)

carnival performer

• Dutch: straatartiest (nl) m
• Finnish: ilveilijä (fi)
• German: Straßenkünstler (de) m

Verb

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

1. (intransitive) To perform bizarre and unpleasant feats as part of a carnival.
   • 1995, Jack Hunter, Inside Teradome, page 23:

     Geeking, unsurprisingly, was among the first carnival acts to be outlawed as the 20th century unfurled.

2. (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.

3. (intransitive, African-American Vernacular, slang) To be nervous or hyperactive due to using crack cocaine.
   • 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

   • 2017 January 27, “Slippery”, in Culture‎^[4], performed by Migos:

     They know I geek a lot / They don't know I keep a Glock

   • 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'

   1. (by extension, intransitive, African-American Vernacular, slang) To be under the influence of a mood-altering drug.

Usage notes

• Usually used in combination with out or up.

Derived terms

• geeked
• geeker

Translations

to behave nervously or in a hyperactive state

• Esperanto: please add this translation if you can
• Ido: please add this translation if you can
• Interlingua: please add this translation if you can
• Volapük: please add this translation if you can

Etymology 2

Probably 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.

Noun

geek (plural geeks)

1. (Australia, colloquial) A look.

   Have a geek at this.

   • 2005, Carmel Bird, The Essential Bird, unnumbered page:

     Then he says let′s have a geek at some of the elephant pictures instead.

Synonyms

• (look): butcher’s, gander, dekko

Translations

Australian: look — see look

Verb

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

1. (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

• See Thesaurus:look

Further reading

• Wright, Joseph (1900), The English Dialect Dictionary‎^[6], volume 2, Oxford: Oxford University Press, page 592

See also

• geek someone's head up

Further reading

• “geek”, in OneLook Dictionary Search.

Basque

Noun

geek

1. ergative plural of ge

Danish

Etymology

From English geek. First attested in 1995.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ɡiːk/, [ɡ̊iːɡ̊]

Noun

geek c (singular definite geeken, plural indefinite geeks)

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)

Declension

Declension of geek

common gender	singular		plural
	indefinite	definite	indefinite	definite
nominative	geek	geeken	geeks	geeksene
genitive	geeks	geekens	geeks'	geeksenes

Synonyms

• nørd

French

Etymology

Borrowed from English geek.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ɡik/

• Audio (France (Vosges)):

  (file)

Noun

geek m or f by sense (plural geeks)

1. geek (all senses)

Fwâi

Adjective

geek

1. dirty
2. cool (fashion)

References

• 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

Adjective

geek

1. dirty

References

• 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

Adjective

geek

1. dirty

References

• 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

Etymology

Cognate with Dutch gek, German Geck.

Noun

geek m (plural geeke)

1. (Mooring) fool

Pije

Adjective

geek

1. dirty

References

• 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

Polish

Alternative forms

• gik

Etymology

Unadapted borrowing from English geek.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈɡik/

• Audio:

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ik
• Syllabification: geek

Noun

geek m pers (female equivalent geeczka, related adjective geekowy or geekowski)

2. (colloquial or slang) geek (expert in a technical field, particularly one having to do with computers)

   Near-synonyms: haker, nerd

   Hypernyms: dziwak, nudziarz, pasjonat, świr

   • 2021 October 4, Piotr Grabiec, “Bycie geekiem i nerdem wreszcie jest cool. […] [Being a geek and a nerd is finally cool. […]]”, in Spider’s Web‎^[7], quoted in obserwatoriumjezykowe.uw.edu.pl, archived from the original on 21 March 2023:

     Przyszło nam żyć w naprawdę ciekawych czasach. Bycie geekiem i nerdem, czy też jakimkolwiek innym outsiderem, wreszcie jest cool. W zasadzie to już nikt nie patrzy spode łba na graczy - czy to tych z padami i myszkami, czy tych ze smartfonami w łapach. E-sport budzi coraz większe emocje i nie pasjonują się nim wyłącznie pryszczaci nastolatkowie pozamykani na cztery spusty w piwnicach, gdzie całymi dniami walą w joystick.

     We have come to live in truly interesting times. Being a geek and a nerd, or any other kind of outsider, is finally cool. In fact, nobody looks askance at gamers anymore - whether those with controllers and mice, or those with smartphones in their paws. E-sports are stirring up more and more excitement, and it's not just pimply teenagers locked away behind four bolts in basements, where they spend all day beating off on the joystick, who are passionate about it.

   • 2022 August 10, “Strefa Geeka [Geek Zone]”, in x-kom‎^[8], quoted in obserwatoriumjezykowe.uw.edu.pl, archived from the original on 16 September 2022:

     Jeśli nie wyobrażasz sobie życia bez technologii i interesujesz się wszystkim, co z nią związane, to miejsce jest dla Ciebie. Znajdziesz tutaj informacje ze świata hardware’u, smartfonów, gadżetów i wiele więcej.

     If you can't imagine life without technology and are interested in everything related to it, this place is for you. You will find information here from the world of hardware, smartphones, gadgets, and much more.

   • a. 2025, “Prezent dla geeka [A Present for a Geek]”, in Rzeczysztosy‎^[9], quoted in obserwatoriumjezykowe.uw.edu.pl, archived from the original on 8 August 2024:

     Jeśli potrzebujesz pomysły na oryginalny prezent dla geeka, nerda (?) czy po prostu fana popkultury, nasza starannie dobrana lista wyjątkowych gadżetów jest dla Ciebie.

     If you need ideas for an original gift for a geek, a nerd, or just a pop culture fan, our carefully curated list of unique gadgets is for you.

Declension

Declension of geek

	singular	plural
nominative	geek	geekowie/geecy/geeki (deprecative)
genitive	geeka	geeków
dative	geekowi	geekom
accusative	geeka	geeków
instrumental	geekiem	geekami
locative	geeku	geekach
vocative	geeku	geekowie/geecy

See also

• betatester
• cibujka
• fandom
• fandomowiec
• fangirlować
• hackerspace
• nerd
• whovianin

Further reading

• “geek”, in Polish dictionaries at PWN‎^[10] (in Polish)
• Woliński, Marcin; Saloni, Zygmunt; Wołosz, Robert; Gruszczyński, Włodzimierz; Skowrońska, Danuta; Bronk, Zbigniew (2020), “geek”, in Słownik gramatyczny języka polskiego [Grammatical Dictionary of Polish]‎^[11], 4. online edition, Warszawa
• geek at Obserwatorium językowe Uniwersytetu Warszawskiego
• geek at Obserwatorium Językowe Uniwersytetu Warszawskiego

Portuguese

Etymology

Unadapted borrowing from English geek.

Pronunciation

 

• (Brazil) IPA^(key): /ˈɡi.ki/

• (Brazil) IPA^(key): /ˈɡi.ki/
  • (Southern Brazil) IPA^(key): /ˈɡi.ke/

• (Portugal) IPA^(key): /ˈɡi.kɨ/

• Hyphenation: geek

Adjective

geek (invariable)

1. geek (characteristic of those who are interested in video games, films, and series, in collecting themed objects and toys)

Noun

geek m or f by sense (plural geeks)

1. geek (expert in a technical field, particularly to do with computers)

Further reading

• “geek”, in Dicionário infopédia da Lingua Portuguesa (in Portuguese), Porto: Porto Editora, 2003–2026
• “geek”, in Michaelis Dicionário Brasileiro da Língua Portuguesa (in Portuguese), São Paulo: Editora Melhoramentos, 2015–2026, →ISBN
• “geek”, in Dicionário Priberam da Língua Portuguesa (in Portuguese), Lisbon: Priberam, 2008–2026

Spanish

Etymology

Unadapted borrowing from English geek.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈɡik/ [ˈɡik]
• Rhymes: -ik
• Syllabification: geek

Noun

geek m or f by sense (plural geeks)

1. geek
   • 2021 April 26, John Malathronas, “¿Cuáles son los idiomas más fáciles (y difíciles) de aprender para los hablantes nativos de inglés?”, in CNN en Español‎^[12]:

     Japón, un país que ha enriquecido al mundo con el sushi, el karaoke y el manga, tiene muchos devotos, especialmente entre los fanáticos de los videojuegos y los geeks.

     Japan, a country that has enriched the world with sushi, karaoke and manga, has many devotees, especially among video game fanatics and geeks.

Usage notes

According to Royal Spanish Academy (RAE) prescriptions, unadapted foreign words should be written in italics in a text printed in roman type, and vice versa, and in quotation marks in a manuscript text or when italics are not available. In practice, this RAE prescription is not always followed.