spooky

[ spoo-kee ]

adjective

, Informal.

, spook·i·er, spook·i·est.

1. like or befitting a spook or ghost; suggestive of spooks.
2. eerie; scary.
3. (especially of horses) nervous; skittish.

ˈspooky

/ ˈspuːkɪ /

adjective

1. ghostly or eerie

   a spooky house

2. resembling or appropriate to a ghost
3. easily frightened; highly strung

Derived Forms

• ˈspookily, adverb
• ˈspookiness, noun

Other Words From

• spooki·ly adverb
• spooki·ness noun

Word History and Origins

Origin of spooky¹

An Americanism dating back to 1850–55; spook + -y ¹

Example Sentences

It’s always interesting and well-directed, even when we’re fed horror cliches galore, from spooky dollhouses to things lurking in the basement.

From Vox

Thanks to campfire tales and multimillion-dollar horror flicks, spooky notions can infiltrate our subconscious even without any real-life supernatural encounters.

From Popular-Science

In fact, “investors may be convinced that Halloween was purposely placed in October because the market’s actions can be so spooky,” CFRA’s Sam Stovall wrote in a recent note.

From Fortune

So much so that CFRA’s Stovall quips, “Investors may be convinced that Halloween was purposely placed in October because the market’s actions can be so spooky.”

From Fortune

For example, key to the quantum internet is entanglement — that “spooky action at a distance” in which particles are linked across time and space, and measuring the properties of one particle instantly reveals the other’s properties.

From Science News

Warne looked—in the words of the Daily Mail—“like a spooky waxwork.”

From The Daily Beast

Spooky Tooth had reformed quite a while before I received the call and were touring quite often.

From The Daily Beast

When we all saw this, both my brothers turned to look at me in the car and pulled ‘spooky’ faces at me.

From The Daily Beast

“As much as I love sunny meadows and bunnies, I also love spooky forests with owls,” she says.

From The Daily Beast

Formerly a playground for Sunday school kids, it has a spooky, cloistered feel to it.

From The Daily Beast

I don't believe there is anything spooky about that building.

From Project Gutenberg

"I hate to go through the grove, it's so spooky," she said, as they hurried along.

From Project Gutenberg

And again the ghostly hoot of the owl made the little patch of woods seem more spooky and lonesome.

From Project Gutenberg

A lonely owl answered with a dismal shriek from a distant tree, making the night seem still more spooky.

From Project Gutenberg

Those were gnomes—the real spooky, spinky kind that give you the shivers up and down your back when they're out gnoming.

From Project Gutenberg

Related Words

• chilling
• creepy
• eerie
• ghostly
• mysterious
• ominous
• scary
• supernatural
• uncanny
• weird