freaking

English

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈfɹiːkɪŋ/

• Audio (General Australian):

  (file)

• Rhymes: -iːkɪŋ

Adjective

freaking (not comparable)

1. (minced oath, slang, chiefly US, euphemistic) Fucking.

   Synonyms: effing, flaming, flipping, fricking, frigging

   You're getting on my freaking nerves!

2. (obsolete) Freakish.
   • 1665 January 25, Samuel Pepys, Diary and Correspondence of Samuel Pepys‎^[1], volume 4, Dodd, Mead & Company, published 1885, page 318:

     Thence home and visited Sir J. Minnes, who continues ill, but is something better, there he told me what a mad freaking fellow Sir Ellis Layton hath been, and is, and once at Antwerp was really mad.

Usage notes

• Freaking (or fricking) is often used in motion pictures as a substitute for fucking so that characters can be shown to swear without the motion picture incurring censorship or a higher certificate than it otherwise might.

Derived terms

• freaking gosh

 

Translations

an intensifier — see fricking

Adverb

freaking (not comparable)

1. (euphemistic, slang, US) Fucking.

   You think you're so freaking smart, don't you?

   He was so scared he freaking ran into a police station.

   • 2021 April 27, Amanda Hess, “Inject the Vaccine Fan Fiction Directly Into My Veins”, in The New York Times‎^[2], →ISSN:

     Suddenly his eyeballs are glazed with tears. “Mom, can you come get me,” he pleads. “Yeah, ’cause I freaking hate it here. […] ”

Verb

freaking

1. present participle and gerund of freak

Noun

freaking (plural freakings)

1. (dated) A streak or variegation in a pattern.
   • 1926, Hildegarde Hawthorne, Corsica, the Surprising Island, page 216:

     For the greater part of the time we were considerably above the sea, that took on a more vivid hue, more peacock freakings, for every yard we hung above it. Once in a way we got down to sea level, but only to mount again.

   • 1937, My Garden, volume 10, page 234:

     […] so through every conceivable shade of red, lilac and purple to a vinous maroon of the deepest dye, with freakings and freckles and all manner of fantastic adornments.