freck
/fɹɛk/
freck noun: synonym of freckle (“a small brownish or reddish pigmentation spot on the surface of the skin; any small spot which has a different colour from its background”).
Noun
freck (plural frecks)
- Synonym of freckle (“a small brownish or reddish pigmentation spot on the surface of the skin; any small spot which has a different colour from its background”).
- The eggs [of the pine grosbeak] vary much, both in size and colouring; […] ground-colour pale blue-green, blotched and streaked with light purple and burnt umber spots and frecks; […]1866 June, the Old Bushman [pseudonym], “The Waxwing, the Pine Grosbeak, and the Crossbills”, in The Intellectual Observer: Review of Natural History, Microscopic Research and Recreative Science...
- Synonyms:
- freckle
Verb
freck (third-person singular simple present frecks, present participle frecking, simple past and past participle frecked)
- To cover (someone or something) with small marks or spots; to dapple, to freckle, to speckle.
- There ſhee a bloodleſſe Statue ſate, all freckt; / Her ſpotted minde the Marble did infect.1626, Ovid, “The Second Booke”, in George Sandys, transl., Ovid’s Metamorphosis Englished […], London: […] William Stansby, →OCLC, page 43
- The tufted Crovv-toe, and pale Geſſamine, / The vvhite Pink, and the Panſie freakt vvith jeat, / The glovving Violet.1637 (date written; published 1638), John Milton, “Lycidas”, in Poems of Mr. John Milton, […], London: […] Ruth Raworth for Humphrey Mosely, […], published 1646, →OCLC, page 63
- To scatter objects over (something).
- The eve put on her sweetest shroud, / The summer-dress she's often in, / Freck'd with white and purple cloud, / Dappled like a leopard's skin; […]1821, John Clare, “[Poems.] Rosy Jane.”, in The Village Minstrel, and Other Poems, volume II, London: […] [T. Miller] for Taylor and Hessey, […]; and E[dward] Drury, […], →OCLC, page 3
Adjective
freck (comparative more freck, superlative most freck)
- Not showing proper respect; impertinent, impudent.
- Bold, brave, courageous.
- "There was none to challenge him but old Keltie, and the carrier Auchtermuchty," replied Randal; "unlikely men to slay one of the frackest youths in Scotland of his years, and who was sure to have friends and partakers at no great distance."1820, [Walter Scott], chapter VII, in The Abbot. […], volume III, Edinburgh: […] [James Ballantyne & Co.] for Longman, Hurst, Rees, Orme, and Brown, […]; and for Archibald Constable and Company, and...
- Physically active and healthy; robust, vigorous.
- [H]e's a freck aul' body at his age.1887, John Service, “Doctor Gibson o’ Beith”, in The Life and Recollections of Doctor Duguid of Kilwinning. […], Edinburgh: Young J. Pentland, →OCLC, book II (Jenny Whalbert’s Cracks), page 210
- Synonyms:
- all oak and iron bound, buxom, fit, hail, hale, hale and hearty, healthy, in the pink of health, lusty, normal
- Often followed by for or to: eager to do something; also, quick to act when an opportunity arises; prompt.
- ["][T]his brother of thine, who is so frack, as the fellow called him, bears he the same wonderful likeness to thee as formerly?" / "If your Grace means in temper, you know whether I am so frack as the serving-man spoke him." / "Nay, thou art prompt enough in all reasonable conscience," replied the...1820, [Walter Scott], chapter VII, in The Abbot. […], volume III, Edinburgh: […] [James Ballantyne & Co.] for Longman, Hurst, Rees, Orme, and Brown, […]; and for Archibald Constable and Company, and...
- Ae stride or twa took the silly auld carle, / An' a gude lang stride took he. / I trow thou art a freck auld carle, / Wilt thou show the way to me?[1825, Allan Cunningham, “The Young Maxwell”, in The Songs of Scotland, Ancient and Modern; […], volume III (in Scots), London: […] [Thomas Davison] for John Taylor, […], →OCLC, stanza 1, page 209
Synonyms of freck
11 more synonymsFewer synonyms
Forms of freck
| Noun | |
|---|---|
| plural | frecks |
| Verb | |
| third-person singular present | frecks |
| present participle | frecking |
| past participle | frecked |
| past | frecked |
| alternative form | freak |
| Adjective | |
| comparative | more freck |
| superlative | most freck |
| alternative form | frack |
Origin of freck
The noun is a clipping of freckle (noun). Freckle is derived from frecken (“(obsolete except UK, dialectal) freckle”)), from Late Middle English fracle, frekel, frekle (“freckle; pimple; fleck of colour in a stone”), a variant of frakne, freken (“freckle; other skin blemish”) from Old Norse freknur pl, an s-less variant of Proto-Germanic *sprekalą (“freckle”), from Proto-Indo-European *sp(h)er(e)g-, *(s)pregʰ- (“to sprinkle, strew”). The verb is a clipping of freckle (noun) or freckle (verb).
From Middle English frecch, frecche (“bold, brave; fierce; greedy, voracious”), frek (“bold, brave; fierce; eager, zealous; fast, quick; greedy (?)”), from Old English frec, fræc (“audacious, bold; greedy”) from Proto-West Germanic *frek (“greedy”), from Proto-Germanic *frekaz (“greedy”), from Proto-Indo-European *preg- (“to covet; to yearn”).
Words formed from freck
Words that rhyme with freck
44 more rhymesFewer rhymes
Questions about freck
- What does freck mean?
- Freck means synonym of freckle (“a small brownish or reddish pigmentation spot on the surface of the skin; any small spot which has a different colour from its background”).
- What part of speech is freck?
- Freck can be a noun, a verb or an adjective.
- How do you pronounce freck?
- Freck is pronounced /fɹɛk/ (UK).
- What is the plural of freck?
- The plural of freck is frecks.
Words near freck in the dictionary
Source and license
Adapted from Wiktionary: freck (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.
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Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: LL-Q1860 (eng)-Vealhurl-freck.wav.
Cite this entry: “freck.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/freck. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.