scary
Americanadjective
-
scarier,
comparative
-
scariest
superlative
-
causing fright or alarm.
-
easily frightened; timid.
adjective
-
causing fear or alarm; frightening
-
easily roused to fear; timid
Other Word Forms
Adjective Inflected Forms
Etymology
Origin of scary
Explanation
If something is scary, it makes you afraid, or scared. Horror films — scary movies — are a very popular genre. Apparently people like to be frightened. Scary is more a more casual way to say "frightening," and you can also use it to describe something that's just bizarre or odd or exceptional: you've become such a good golfer, it's scary; or, you cleaned up you room so fast, it's scary. Note that there is no "e" in scary, even though the verb to scare ends in one.
Vocabulary lists containing scary
Florida's B.E.S.T. Common Suffixes: -y
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"Leapin' Lizards! Is That a Real Dragon?"
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Unit 18, Lesson 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.
See Examples For:
“Too many bad things have happened. The Earth is in bad shape. This is a weird, scary time, so no. Not anymore.”
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 15, 2026
If Peacock’s huge selection of scary movies, from Universal classics to Blumhouse additions, is the reason you subscribe, then consider Shudder.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 15, 2026
It’s a film for anyone who has put aside their desires and told themselves it’s too late or too scary to try something new.
From Salon ● Oct. 12, 2026
At HMP Gloucester, it is zombies that visitors must try and escape from as they walk past old prison cells, facing all sorts of scary encounters.
From BBC ● Oct. 12, 2026
With the knowledge that even if the future gets scary, we’ll be safe and okay and able to take care of ourselves, of each other?
From "The Wrong Way Home" by Kate O’Shaughnessy
It might just sound like a new way to call someone an idiot, but the NPC label has much deeper, scarier implications.
From Salon ● Oct. 12, 2026
During the 1970s, San Fernando High football coach Bill Marsh created something scarier than Frankenstein: the wishbone offense.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 7, 2026
Did anything else happen today that is extremely relevant to this topic but in a much scarier way?
From Slate ● Aug. 4, 2026
"They were shouting the whole time, and it got louder during the film's scarier scenes," she tells the BBC.
From BBC ● Apr. 24, 2026
“There’s an even scarier one in the bedroom,” she says, making a face, shuddering.
From "The Namesake" by Jhumpa Lahiri
You can’t depend on it as a kind of law-enforcing mechanism, and that may be the scariest thing of all.
From Salon ● Oct. 16, 2026
“And I think that’s the scariest thing of all.”
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 6, 2026
“This was one of, if not the scariest experience of my life. Especially since Jonathan was in Indy for practices.”
From MarketWatch ● Sep. 28, 2026
“We’re diving under the water and grabbing these big old catfish. It was one of the scariest things I’ve ever done.”
From Slate ● Sep. 17, 2026
Behind me is the biggest, scariest dog I’ve ever seen.
From "Fast Pitch" by Nic Stone
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Get a wordDefinitions 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.
