scare
Americanverb (used with object)
-
scares,
present (3rd person singular)
-
scared,
past participle, past
-
scaring
present participle
verb (used without object)
-
scares,
present (3rd person singular)
-
scared,
past participle, past
-
scaring
present participle
noun
-
scares
plural
-
a sudden fright or alarm, especially with little or no reason.
I recently had a scare when my computer seemed to be malfunctioning, but it turned out to be nothing.
-
a time or condition of alarm or worry.
During the anthrax scare, people were leery of opening envelopes from addresses they didn't recognize.
verb phrase
-
scare away / off to frighten or alarm someone or something so much that they go away and stay away.
Business leaders felt the fuel tax would scare away consumers fearing higher electricity bills and rising gasoline costs.
The bee's sting isn't necessarily deadly, but it's painful enough to scare off predators.
-
scare up to obtain with effort; find or gather.
We want to renovate the kitchen, but first we'll need to scare up some money.
verb
-
to fill or be filled with fear or alarm
-
(tr; often foll by away or off) to drive (away) by frightening
-
informal (tr) (foll by up)
-
to produce (a meal) quickly from whatever is available
-
to manage to find (something) quickly or with difficulty
brewers need to scare up more sales
-
noun
-
a sudden attack of fear or alarm
-
a period of general fear or alarm
adjective
Synonym Usage
See frighten.
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
-
scaresimple
-
scaressimple
-
have scaredperfect
-
has scaredperfect
-
am scaringprogressive
-
are scaringprogressive
-
is scaringprogressive
-
have been scaringperfect progressive
-
has been scaringperfect progressive
Past
-
scaredsimple
-
had scaredperfect
-
was scaringprogressive
-
were scaringprogressive
-
had been scaringperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of scare
First recorded in 1150–1200; (for the verb) Middle English skerren, from Old Norse skirra “to frighten,” derivative of skjarr “timid, shy”; (for the noun) late Middle English skere, derivative of the verb
Explanation
Scare is a verb that means frighten or intimidate. You might be embarrassed to admit that you don't want to go to the beach with your friends because of how much seagulls scare you. Questions on a test you're unprepared for might scare you, and so might a barking dog. To scare is to spook, startle, or cause fear, and what scares your best friend most (like losing his job) might not be what would scare you more than anything (like discovering a huge snake in your shower). You can also use scare as a noun, as in "It gave me such a scare when all my friends jumped out and yelled, 'Surprise!'"
Vocabulary lists containing scare
Terrify
Looking to grow your vocabulary? Check out this interactive, curated word list from our team of English language specialists at Vocabulary.com – one of over 17,000 lists we've built to help learners worldwide!
Terrify
Interested in learning more words like this one? Our team at Vocabulary.com has got you covered! You can review flashcards, quiz yourself, practice spelling, and more – and it's all completely free to use!
Terrify
Want to remember this word for good? Start your learning journey today with our library of interactive, themed word lists built by the experts at Vocabulary.com – we'll help you make the most of your study time!
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
The scare blue-tailed damselfly, one of the world's earliest flying insect species, was recorded alongside the River Ash near Hertford.
From BBC ● Nov. 1, 2026
Soaring candy prices have many Americans looking to scare up some extra value during what has been an already expensive year.
From MarketWatch ● Oct. 30, 2026
A lot has changed for football managers over the past few decades but Vincent Kompany's recent health scare was a reminder it is still an all-consuming occupation that takes its toll physically and mentally.
From BBC ● Oct. 30, 2026
Times when the stock market has a big scare that resolves quickly seem to inspire exceptional risk-taking behavior once the smoke clears.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 28, 2026
If a vodyanoi was after her, she could scare it away with iron.
From Anya and the Dragon by Sofiya Pasternack
And October didn’t content itself with those scares.
From MarketWatch ● Oct. 30, 2026
Get ready to buy the scares in the coming weeks, investment strategy firm Yardeni Research has advised.
From MarketWatch ● Oct. 26, 2026
After securing safety, albeit after a few scares, the club spent more than £300m on summer signings for the first time in their history as they backed De Zerbi to restore them to former glories.
From BBC ● Oct. 24, 2026
Food-safety scares in the restaurant business clouded the wraps’ initial impact, but executives hope the new value proposition will boost sales and traffic.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 13, 2026
I skirt it, stay above it, but it scares me.
From "X: A Novel" by Ilyasah Shabazz
"I don't think we should be scared of any team."
From BBC ● Oct. 28, 2026
“It does sound desperate, but it’s also that he’s picking up on something. He knows what voters are scared of—isolation,” Katz said.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 28, 2026
"I'm very scared myself. Luckily it hasn't happened yet but who knows what the future holds?"
From BBC ● Oct. 26, 2026
Ron says I’m inventing reasons because I’m scared of change.
From MarketWatch ● Oct. 24, 2026
When the net flipped up out of the leaves and grass, it scared the monkeys half to death.
From "Summer of the Monkeys" by Wilson Rawls
Investment in artificial intelligence is driving our economy and the markets but it’s also doing something else … scaring the hell out of people.
From Slate ● Oct. 27, 2026
It’s no secret there’s big business in scaring people: Horror movies are a box office staple, often costing the least to produce and resulting in the biggest profits.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 26, 2026
Teran, a 25-year Ford veteran, said staff at Hermosillo had been researching other tactics for scaring off pigeons, especially a cohort of birds that had built nests in the plant.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 27, 2026
"It was just a way for them to sound smart, and I really hate that. I think we're scaring people and that's irresponsible," he said.
From Barron's ● May 27, 2026
The flames must be scaring them, too, she thought.
From "Stella by Starlight" by Sharon M. Draper
Random Word
Spin the wheel and learn a new word!
Get a wordDefinitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
