eerie

American  

[eer-ee] / ˈɪər i /

Or eery

adjective

eerier, eeriest

1. uncanny, so as to inspire superstitious fear; weird

   an eerie midnight howl.

2. Chiefly Scot. affected with superstitious fear.

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eerie British  

/ ˈɪərɪ /

adjective

1. (esp of places, an atmosphere, etc) mysteriously or uncannily frightening or disturbing; weird; ghostly

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Synonym Usage

See weird.

Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• eerily
  adverb
• eeriness
  noun

Etymology

Origin of eerie

First recorded in 1250–1300; Middle English eri, dialectal variant of argh, Old English earg “cowardly”; cognate with Old Frisian erg, Old Norse argr “evil,” German arg “cowardly”

Explanation

Eerie means spooky, creepy or suggestively supernatural. If it's eerie, it's sure to make the hair on the back of your neck stand up. Back in the 1300s when eerie first came on the scene, it meant "fearful or timid." It took a good 500 years or so before it morphed into the adjective we know today, which now means "causing fear because of strangeness." And the strangeness is key: Something that's eerie isn't just scary. It's mysterious, ghostly, and gives you the creeps. Like dark old castles, misty graveyards and creaky sounds in the middle of the night.

Related Words

• bizarre
• creepy
• eldritch
• fantastic
• frightening
• ghostly
• mysterious
• scary
• strange
• supernatural
• uncanny
• weird