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freak out

(informal, transitive) To scare or unnerve someone.

ˈfɹik ˈaʊtDocumented since 1960s1960sGen XhistoricalCurrent173 viewsLast reviewed Jun 29, 2026+ Add a definition
🗺️ Regional & Other
3 definitions
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8 citations · last seen May 2026

Etymology timeline

Born ~1966 · 1 year of recorded use
1966Born2026: 8 citationsToday, 2026
Boomer / counterculture eraSee decade cohort →

Seen in the wild

Definitions

#1·Apr 27, 2026

(informal, transitive) To scare or unnerve someone.

Jimmy'll come in off the road, you won't be there, he'll freak out and call you a hundred thousand times...
Heard in the wild
  • “My dad would freak out. And not in a good way.”

    — Bluesky· May 2026
  • “That feeling where you go looking for your notes, can't find it, freak out for a minute, and then realize you filed them in the wrong place cause your entire filing system on your computer is crap. Yup. That happened. #writingcommunity #indieauthor.”

    — Bluesky· May 2026
  • “The writing on the wall was noticeable the moment Nadella and Huang started to publicly freak out about public adoption not being where it should be. The whole Wild West era of just saying shit is over.”

    — Bluesky· May 2026
  • “It was so funny seeing my friend freak out after seeing Alastor!!🤣🤣🤣”

    — Bluesky· May 2026
  • “ETF inflows + volatility = everyone's favorite combo to freak out about 👀”

    — Bluesky· May 2026
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#2·Apr 27, 2026

(informal, intransitive) To react with extreme anger or fear, to the extent that one loses one's composure or behaves irrationally.

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  • “It is a theoretical question. If they say: “no because he has been president for 2 terms”, then the next question is: “why won’t you say Trump can’t run in 2028”. Also, Obama should say he is thinking of running, that would really freak out the Republicans.”

Heard in the wild
  • “It is a theoretical question. If they say: “no because he has been president for 2 terms”, then the next question is: “why won’t you say Trump can’t run in 2028”. Also, Obama should say he is thinking of running, that would really freak out the Republicans.”

    — Bluesky· May 2026
  • “any.run/report/f2e57... and my fathers name being Fred funk, means this would freak out and possibly be targeting anyone @nyulaw.bsky.social that was looking into his death with me”

    — Bluesky· May 2026
  • “♪ #nowplaying All I need - Bret McKenzie (Freak out city - 2025) https://www.radiofrance.fr/fip”

    — Bluesky· May 2026
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#3·Apr 27, 2026

(dated, _, slang) A negative or unpleasant experience with LSD or another psychedelic drug.

Origin: From freak + out. Countercultural slang, originally referring to a positive reaction or experience from the use of a psychotropic, usually a hallucinogenic or psychedelic drug. First use appears c. 1966 in several newspapers, particularly in the Independent (Long Beach, California). Origin information sourced from Wiktionary contributors (CC BY-SA 4.0).
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