scared
Americanadjective
verb
Other Word 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.
"It was heartbreaking. We were scared that she had been knocked over or that she wasn't around any more," she said.
From BBC ● Aug. 17, 2026
This is not something that we should be scared of, let alone try to hide, because it’s a part of womanhood.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 13, 2026
“I was scared of losing my job again, or just the general direction of the economy…But at the same time, it seems like the best time to buy a house was always yesterday.”
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 11, 2026
One passenger on the Porter Airlines plane, Aryeh Kozuch, told CBC News the child had not been unruly but had seemed scared.
From BBC ● Aug. 10, 2026
He also seemed both arrogant and uneasy: desperate to be first, but scared that he’d only ever come second.
From "Wolf Brother" by Michelle Paver
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.
