eerie

or ee·ry

[ eer-ee ]

/ ˈɪər i /

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR eerie ON THESAURUS.COM

adjective, ee·ri·er, ee·ri·est.

uncanny, so as to inspire superstitious fear; weird: an eerie midnight howl.

Chiefly Scot. affected with superstitious fear.

Nearby words

eeny, eeo, eeoc, eephus pitch, eer, eerie, eery, ef-, efa, efate, efavirenz

Origin of eerie

1250–1300; Middle English eri, dialectal variant of argh, Old English earg cowardly; cognate with Old Frisian erg, Old Norse argr evil, German arg cowardly

SYNONYMS FOR eerie

1 See weird.

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR eerie ON THESAURUS.COM

Related formsee·ri·ly, adverbee·ri·ness, noun

Can be confusedaerie eerie Erie

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Examples from the Web for eerie

Yet the eerie echoing of the earlier faux interview in another major media outlet was unsettling for jazz lovers.
What’s With This Uncool Surge in Jazz Bashing?|Ted Gioia|November 2, 2014|DAILY BEAST
An examination of the eerie similarities between Litchfield Prison and Agrestic.
Orange Is the New Weeds: The Adventures of Jenji Kohan Across the 8th Dimension|Rich Goldstein, Emily Shire|August 18, 2014|DAILY BEAST
Plus wearing gowns, gloves, goggles and masks imparts an eerie moonwalk sensation as one enters the facility.
Caring for Ebola Patients Deeply Scary For Health Care Workers|Kent Sepkowitz|August 2, 2014|DAILY BEAST
The music is eerie and disturbing, and it is easy to imagine how revolutionary it sounded in 1983.
Punks, UFOs, and Heroin: How ‘Liquid Sky’ Became a Cult Movie|Daniel Genis|June 2, 2014|DAILY BEAST

This, it should be said, bears an eerie similarity to the targeted, predatory lending of the last decade.
How We Built the Ghettos|Jamelle Bouie|March 13, 2014|DAILY BEAST
I have loitered on Waterloo Bridge to gaze on the magic of the river and listen to the eerie music of Time's roaring loom.
The Haunts of Old Cockaigne|Alex Thompson
A night attack was evidently under way, and it is always an eerie sensation.
War in the Garden of Eden|Kermit Roosevelt
The old Major called back to me; his voice seemed detached, eerie with the thin laugh in it.
The Sleuth of St. James's Square|Melville Davisson Post
Only Aghadoe Abbey was eerie at night, especially in winter storms, since my cousin Theobald went away.
The Story of Bawn|Katharine Tynan
The line went quiet, the eerie silence of a net-connection with no packets routing on it.
Makers|Cory Doctorow

British Dictionary definitions for eerie

eerie

/ (ˈɪərɪ) /

adjective eerier or eeriest

(esp of places, an atmosphere, etc) mysteriously or uncannily frightening or disturbing; weird; ghostly

Derived Formseerily, adverbeeriness, noun

Word Origin for eerie

C13: originally Scottish and Northern English, probably from Old English earg cowardly, miserable

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Word Origin and History for eerie

eerie

adj.

c.1300, "fearful, timid," north England and Scottish variant of Old English earg "cowardly, fearful," from Proto-Germanic *argaz (cf. Old Frisian erg "evil, bad," Middle Dutch arch "bad," Dutch arg, Old High German arg "cowardly, worthless," German arg "bad, wicked," Old Norse argr "unmanly, voluptuous," Swedish arg "malicious").

Sense of "causing fear because of strangeness" is first attested 1792. Related: Eerily. Finnish arka "cowardly" is a Germanic loan-word.

eerie

or ee·ry

adjective, ee·ri·er, ee·ri·est.

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Nearby words

Origin of eerie

Examples from the Web for eerie

British Dictionary definitions for eerie

eerie

adjective eerier or eeriest

Word Origin for eerie

Word Origin and History for eerie

eerie