scared
Americanadjective
verb
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Etymology
Origin of scared
Explanation
Have you ever gone into a dark room and heard something scurrying across the floor and felt your pulse quicken and your heart race? You were scared — afraid. When you are scared, you are frightened or alarmed. It can be a momentary thing: hearing a car screech outside your house and worrying that your dog just got hit. It can be longer: you might be scared for weeks or months after a medical diagnosis. While the verb is usually associated with a single person or small group, you might also apply it more generally: a fast-moving tornado could have scared a whole town.
Vocabulary lists containing scared
Emotions on Display
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In the Mood? 100 Words to Describe Emotions
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Hooked on a Feeling, List 1
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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.
Scared by his sincerity, Violetta warns him off with a bouncy display of vocal fireworks that declare that she isn’t one to be caged by commitment.
From The Wall Street Journal • Mar. 13, 2026
Scared money sits in a vault and pretends to read the Wall Street Journal.
From MarketWatch • Dec. 5, 2025
The Orange County Museum of Art presents its 2025 California Biennial: “Desperate, Scared, But Social,” featuring 12 artists exploring the rich, precocious and often awkward stage of late adolescence through multimedia exhibitions.
From Los Angeles Times • Jun. 4, 2025
Scared of being detained or deported, some families have chosen to leave Islamabad and Rawalpindi.
From BBC • Mar. 2, 2025
Okay, um, I was scared of the fire so I write, Scared.
From "Wayward Creatures" by Dayna Lorentz
Definitions 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.
