scarecrow
Americannoun
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scarecrows
plural
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an object, usually a figure of a person in old clothes, set up to frighten crows or other birds away from crops.
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anything frightening but not really dangerous.
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a person in ragged clothes.
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an extremely thin person.
noun
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an object, usually in the shape of a man, made out of sticks and old clothes to scare birds away from crops
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a person or thing that appears frightening but is not actually harmful
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informal
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an untidy-looking person
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a very thin person
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Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Etymology
Origin of scarecrow
Explanation
Farmers use scarecrows, or human-shaped decoys, to frighten off birds that might eat their seeds or crops. If your sunflowers are being ravaged by starlings, try dressing a scarecrow in your old clothes! Scarecrow dates from the 1550s — earlier it was known as a shoy-hoy, which imitates the cry of a crow. The original scarecrows were actual people who were hired to stand in the middle of a field scaring crows and other birds away. Mannequins dressed in hats and other clothing mainly filled this role starting in the 16th century, and the word soon came to be used as a pejorative description for a "gaunt, ridiculous person" as well.
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:
"A solo scarecrow is sinister enough. A gaggle of scarecrows is terrifying."
From BBC ● Oct. 23, 2026
In the field behind them, a scarecrow in the form of an archer, along with rags fluttering from lines of string, are meant to keep birds from scavenging the newly planted seeds.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 29, 2026
The scarecrow scenes are klutzy; the reveal of the Tin Man plays like a spoof of Jack Nicholson in “The Shining.”
From Los Angeles Times ● Nov. 18, 2025
The researchers focused on two key regulators of cell division in Arabidopsis -- proteins called short-root and scarecrow that, together, prompt dividing root cells to make the switch.
From Science Daily ● Feb. 9, 2024
And the scarecrow says, “If you’re going, now’s the time.”
From "Challenger Deep" by Neal Shusterman
"A solo scarecrow is sinister enough. A gaggle of scarecrows is terrifying."
From BBC ● Oct. 23, 2026
Squash is an inherently seasonal crop that automatically conjures harvest-esque imagery complete with gourds, scarecrows, Halloween decor and maybe even a fun Jack-o-Lantern.
From Salon ● Sep. 16, 2023
Everywhere I turned, I saw decorations for Halloween, Thanksgiving and Christmas all merged into a torture chamber bedecked with lighted trees, inflatable grinches, pumpkins, scarecrows and turkey fryers.
From Washington Post ● Nov. 22, 2022
Every year, the town of Benicia, California encourages local businesses to make creative scarecrows for Halloween.
From NewsForKids.net ● Oct. 21, 2022
I tied the bottoms of the legs, stuffed them full, and as I looked down on my strange cargo, I thought of scarecrows and Halloween.
From "My Side of the Mountain" by Jean Craighead George
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