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
Creepy, kooky, mysterious, spooky, altogether ooky, they’re a peerlessly happy, hospitable family, ever welcoming to the straight-world figures who stumble into their eccentric manse.
From Los Angeles Times • Oct. 25, 2024
Creepy as this interview is, it adds yet another conundrum to the puzzle that is Tom Cruise.
From Salon • Jul. 25, 2023
Creepy and antic, gloomy and giddy, Michael Arden’s production capitalizes on every trick in Dickens’s story and then pulls a few new ones out of Scrooge’s top hat.
From New York Times • Nov. 21, 2022
“Oh, no.. Creepy is like spiders and rats and, you know, things that make chills run down your spine. You’re just....difficult,” said Gregor, trying to be honest but not flat-out rude.
From "Gregor the Overlander" by Suzanne Collins
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.
