Synonyms

heebie-jeebies

American

[hee-bee-jee-beez] / ˈhi biˈdʒi biz /

noun

(used with a plural verb)

Usually the heebie-jeebies a condition of extreme nervousness caused by fear, worry, strain, etc.; the jitters; the willies.

Just thinking about ghosts gives me the heebie-jeebies.

heebie-jeebies British

/ ˈhiːbɪˈdʒiːbɪz /

plural noun

slang apprehension and nervousness

"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

Etymology

Origin of heebie-jeebies

An Americanism dating back to 1920–25; rhyming compound coined by W. De Beck (1890–1942), American comic-strip cartoonist

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.

I’d love to understand why horror films that I find excruciatingly dull give others the heebie-jeebies.

From Los Angeles Times • Mar. 11, 2026

You’re living with a large cushion that should ease any of those financial heebie-jeebies.

From MarketWatch • Jan. 29, 2026

Darwin’s confessed heebie-jeebies about the unmolested eye hints that this response is related to something primal.

From Salon • Sep. 18, 2025

Yes, they are possessed of 15 MPs - just 2.3% of Parliament's total - but a string of by-election victories over the Conservatives has given dozens of Tories a blast of the heebie-jeebies.

From BBC • Sep. 26, 2023

He had the jitters and the heebie-jeebies, a feeling deep in his stomach that something was entirely wrong.

From "American Gods" by Neil Gaiman

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023