adjective
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informal having or causing a sensation of repulsion, horror, or fear, as of creatures crawling on the skin
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creeping; slow-moving
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of creepy
Explanation
Something is creepy if it feels like tiny things are crawling on you. The sensation of a spider on your arm is creepy. Ladybugs are pretty, but it still feels creepy when they crawl across your hand. Another kind of creepy feeling is something that gives you an unpleasant chill, like a creepy ghost story or the creepy sound of footsteps in your attic at night. The earliest meaning of creepy was simply "characterized by creeping," so in the 18th century you'd be creepy if you were simply tip-toeing quietly through your house.
Vocabulary lists containing creepy
Strange
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Strange
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Strange
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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.
Creepy ring iconography crowded my consciousness: the unsettling surveillance of Amazon ring devices.
From The Wall Street Journal • Mar. 29, 2026
The Lodges then shipped remains to others, including Katrina Maclean, 44, of Salem, Mass., who owns a store called Kat’s Creepy Creations in Peabody, Mass., and Joshua Taylor, 46, of West Lawn, Pa., prosecutors said.
From New York Times • Jun. 14, 2023
Creepy investigations, from multipart series to bite-size social media posts, have proliferated on cable TV, YouTube, TikTok and other platforms in recent years.
From Los Angeles Times • Oct. 28, 2022
On Aug. 25, Beard took her daughter to Disney World, and naturally, Creepy Chloe came along.
From Washington Post • Sep. 3, 2022
She’d cried at the Hoppers’ and the Cranbeps’ and the Burgertons’ and at the Creepy Dreeps’.
From "Ruby Holler" by Sharon Creech
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.
