geek (redirected from Geekdom)

geek  (gk) Slang

n.

1.

a. A person regarded as foolish, inept, or clumsy.

b. A person who is single-minded or accomplished in scientific or technical pursuits but is felt to be socially inept.

2. A carnival performer whose show consists of bizarre acts, such as biting the head off a live chicken.

tr.v. geeked, geek·ing, geeks

To excite emotionally: I'm geeked about that new video game.

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[Perhaps alteration of dialectal geck, fool, from Low German gek, from Middle Low German.]

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geeky 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.

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geek

Noun

Informal a boring and unattractive person [perhaps from Scottish geck fool]

geeky adj

Thesaurus

Noun	1.	geek - a carnival performer who does disgusting acts performer, performing artist - an entertainer who performs a dramatic or musical work for an audience
	2.	geek - a person with an unusual or odd personality eccentric, eccentric person, oddball, flake unusual person, anomaly - a person who is unusual crackpot, fruitcake, nut case, screwball, crank, nut - a whimsically eccentric person nutter, wacko, whacko - a person who is regarded as eccentric or mad