What does streaker mean?
A streaker is someone who deliberately runs through a public place without clothes, often during a sporting event and sometimes as a prank, protest, or bid for attention. The word is most closely associated with the late 1960s and 1970s, when public streaking became a prominent form of performance in the United States and was also reported in Britain. In modern English it usually carries a mildly humorous or faintly disapproving tone, although a speaker's attitude can vary with context. A streaker may be treated as a trespasser or obstruction rather than merely a performer, and the activity has often involved legal or disciplinary consequences. The term is especially familiar from incidents involving cricket grounds, football stadiums, and other crowded venues. It is therefore both a precise label for that unusual form of public conduct and a vivid reminder of a distinctive period of popular spectacle.
nounA person who deliberately runs through a public place naked, typically as a prank, protest, or bid for attention.
- A person who runs naked through a public place, especially a sports venue, as a prank or act of publicity.
"A streaker sprinted across the pitch as the players lined up for the second half."
"A streaker sprinted across the pitch as the players lined up for the second half."
"The article explained why a streaker at the stadium had been charged with trespassing."
The standard plural adds -s and can refer to one or more people who have run naked in public.
"Several streakers were removed from the grounds before the match began."
In 1974, naked fans crossed the field at a major American football championship, turning streaking into a national spectacle.
Reviewed by Deb Chak, Editor. AI-assisted content curated by RJS Tech Solutions LLP.
Where does streaker come from?
Streaker is an agent-noun formation from streak and the suffix -er. Streak originally meant a line, stripe, or band and comes through Middle English and Old English from a Germanic word related to stripe; its separate sense for a run or dash developed later. The now-famous noun streaker, denoting a public naked runner, emerged with the practice of streaking in the late 20th century.
How streaker is actually used
Informal to mildly disapproving and also used jocularly. The term is especially associated with incidents at sporting venues in the late 1960s and 1970s.
Easily confused with streaker
A streaker runs naked in public, whereas a striker is a player who attempts to score.