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geek
Slang.–noun
| 1. | a peculiar or otherwise dislikable person, esp. one who is perceived to be overly intellectual. |
| 2. | a computer expert or enthusiast (a term of pride as self-reference, but often considered offensive when used by outsiders.) |
| 3. | a carnival performer who performs sensationally morbid or disgusting acts, as biting off the head of a live chicken. |
Origin:
1915- 20; prob. var. of geck (mainly Scots) fool < D or LG gek
1915- 20; prob. var. of geck (mainly Scots) fool < D or LG gek
Related forms:
geeky, adjective
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
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Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
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|
Link To geek
geek (gēk)  n.
To excite emotionally: I'm geeked about that new video game. [Perhaps alteration of dialectal geck, fool, from Low German gek, from Middle Low German.] geek'y adj. Our Living Language : Our word geek is now chiefly associated with contemporary student and computer slang, as in computer geek. In fact, geek is first attested in 1876 with the meaning "fool," and it later also came to mean "a performer engaging in bizarre acts like biting the head off a live chicken." Perhaps the use of geek to describe a circus sideshow has contributed to its current popularity. The circus was a much more significant source of entertainment in the United States in the 19th and early 20th centuries than it is now, and large numbers of traveling circuses left a cultural legacy in various unexpected ways. Superman and other comic book superheroes owe much of their look to circus acrobats, who were similarly costumed in capes and tights. We also owe the word ballyhoo to the circus; its ultimate origin is unknown, but in the late 1800s it referred to a flamboyant free musical performance conducted outside a circus with the goal of luring customers to buy tickets to the shows inside. Other words and expressions with circus origins include bandwagon (coined by P.T. Barnum in 1855) and Siamese twin. |
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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Copyright © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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| Main Entry: | geek1 |
| Part of Speech: | n |
| Definition: | See gearhead |
geek
"sideshow freak," 1916, U.S. carnival and circus slang, perhaps a variant of geck "a fool, dupe, simpleton" (1515), apparently from Low Ger. geck, from an imitative verb found in North Sea Gmc. and Scand. meaning "to croak, cackle," and also "to mock, cheat." The modern form and the popular use with ref. to circus sideshow "wild men" is from 1946, in William Lindsay Gresham's novel "Nightmare Alley" (made into a film in 1947 starring Tyrone Power).
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2001 Douglas Harper
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geek
computer geek
The Free On-line Dictionary of Computing, © 1993-2007 Denis Howe
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