scare

American  

[skair] / skɛər /

verb (used with object)

scared, scaring

1. to fill, especially suddenly, with fear or terror; frighten; alarm.

   What scares me most about the disease is the residual effects on the lungs and heart.

   The ducks scared my sister by flying right toward her.

   Synonyms:

   intimidate, startle

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verb (used without object)

scared, scaring

1. to become frightened.

   That horse scares easily.

noun

1. 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.

2. 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

1. 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.

2. 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.

scare British  

/ skɛə /

verb

1. to fill or be filled with fear or alarm

2. (tr; often foll by away or off) to drive (away) by frightening

3. informal (tr) (foll by up)

   1. to produce (a meal) quickly from whatever is available

   2. to manage to find (something) quickly or with difficulty

      brewers need to scare up more sales

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noun

1. a sudden attack of fear or alarm

2. a period of general fear or alarm

adjective

1. causing (needless) fear or alarm

   a scare story

scare Idioms  

More idioms and phrases containing scare

• run scared

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Related Words

See frighten.

Other Word Forms

• scarer
  noun
• scaringly
  adverb

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!'"

Example Sentences

Appeared in the October 25, 2025, print edition as 'A Scottish Scare'.

From The Wall Street Journal • Oct. 24, 2025

She had been outraged by the Palmer Raids and the Red Scare following World War I that resulted in mass deportations of radical immigrants.

From Slate • Apr. 3, 2025

“Spartacus” screenwriter Dalton Trumbo, blacklisted during the Red Scare, may have identified with the shrewd Thracian gladiator who led a slave revolt against the crushing overlords of the Roman Republic.

From Los Angeles Times • Feb. 11, 2025

Rare dragonflies were sighted on various bogland ecosystems, including this female Scare Chaser dragonfly at Wicken Fen in Cambridgeshire.

From BBC • Dec. 26, 2024

“I know him, but I can’t name him. I think of him as the Scare Crow. Seems as good a name as any.”

From "Bone Gap" by Laura Ruby

Related Words

• alarm
• awe
• daunt
• dismay
• intimidate
• paralyze
• petrify
• shock
• startle
• terrify
• terrorize