creepy-crawly

American

[kree-pee-kraw-lee] / ˈkri piˈkrɔ li /

noun

a creeping or crawling animal, especially an insect.

adjective

creepy-crawlier, creepy-crawliest

creepy.

creepy-crawly British

noun

a small crawling creature

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

adjective

feeling or causing a sensation as of creatures crawling on one's skin

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Other Word Forms

Inflected Forms

noun

creepy-crawlies

plural

Etymology

Origin of creepy-crawly

First recorded in 1855–60; see origin at creep, crawl ¹, -y ¹

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023