eerie

Or ee·ry

[eer-ee]

adjective

eerier, eeriest 

1. uncanny, so as to inspire superstitious fear; weird

   an eerie midnight howl.

2. Chiefly Scot.,  affected with superstitious fear.

eerie

/ ˈɪərɪ /

adjective

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

Other Word Forms

• eerily adverb
• eeriness noun

Word History and Origins

Origin of eerie¹

First recorded in 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”

Word History and Origins

Origin of eerie¹

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

Synonym Study

See weird.

Example Sentences

The result captures the anxious, conspiratorial spirit of 2025 with eerie precision, proving once again that Plemons doesn’t need to raise his voice to deliver a performance that speaks volumes.

From Los Angeles Times

Come nightfall, the eerie silence is often pierced by the woeful bleat of a wandering burro.

From Los Angeles Times

Or later, as he sought photographic evidence of the Mars canals: “We must secure some canals to confound the skeptics” — which, today, carries eerie echoes of “Find me the votes.”

From Los Angeles Times

The show adds other extraterrestrial creatures, just as eerie and lethal, to the “Alien” canon too.

From Los Angeles Times

In an eerie montage, editor Joe Murphy shows us the goodbye sprint of all 17 kids — we understand the scale of the town’s tragedy even though only two of them get names.

From Los Angeles Times

Related Words

• bizarre 
• creepy 
• eldritch 
• fantastic 
• frightening www.thesaurus.com
• ghostly 
• mysterious 
• scary 
• strange 
• supernatural 
• uncanny 
• weird