Green’s Dictionary of Slang

1. (US) a euph. for fucking adj.

1928		M. Bodenheim Georgie May 47: Am ah queer lak ’cause ah want to be alone now and forget the wole freaking business?
1949		N. Algren Man with the Golden Arm 105: You point that freakin’ finger at me ’n you’re one dead pointer.
1958		H. Ellison Web of the City (1983) 165: I don’t need no more fraykin’ trouble.
1968		T. Wolfe Electric Kool-Aid Acid Test (1969) 13: The thing was fantastic, a freaking mind-blower.
1971		L. Bangs in Psychotic Reactions (1988) 11: The real vision, the real freaking flash, was just like the reality.
1981		J. Wambaugh Glitter Dome (1982) 163: The Ferret cried, ‘Out of freaking sight!’.
1990		S. Morgan Homeboy 300: That F Stop has me tabulating production quotas for his freakin armadillo ranch.
2003		N. Green Angel of Montague Street (2004) 160: He had to have it like a freaking monastery in here.
2006		R. Antoni Carnival 55: Gimme a freaking pen!
2010		Codella and Bennett Alphaville (2011) 308: Never freakin’ fails [...] I dunno why I even bother making plans.
2010		L. Redhead Thrill City [ebook] Tell him to charter a freaking plane and get to Broken Hill.
2013		Ace’s View 🌐 These children [...] are the descendant of South Africans who were once regarded as ‘kaffirs’ (niggers) under European colonialism, once again [...] in their own freakin’ country.
2016		Guardian Rev. 17 June 3/1: Holy guacamole this guy had a crystal ball! He predicted everything [...] Guy’s a freaking genius.
2017		D. Winslow The Force [ebook] New York City police detective. The best job in the whole freakin’ world.
2020		D. Winslow ‘Sunset’ in Broken 190: [T]he black leather jacket, the use of ‘freakin’’ as a descriptor.

2. (US campus) extraordinary, good.

1981		Eble Campus Sl. Mar. 3: freaking – interesting or unusual: ‘Look at that freaking Rolls Royce’.
1991		C. Hiaasen Native Tongue 30: Look at this freaking condo – two bedrooms, two bathroom. Microwave in the kitchen.
2005		Mad mag. Apr. 7: And would my main objective be to infiltrate a freakin’ retirement home?

3. as infix.

2006		C. Hiaasen Nature Girl 208: Un-freaking-believable.
2017		D. Winslow The Force [ebook] ‘I can’t believe I’m working Manhattan North with denny freaking Malone’.
2020		D. Winslow ‘Broken’ in Broken 19: What should I do? This is Jimmy freaking McNabb.