scare
Americanverb (used with object)
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scares,
present (3rd person singular)
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scared,
past participle, past
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scaring
present participle
verb (used without object)
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scares,
present (3rd person singular)
-
scared,
past participle, past
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scaring
present participle
noun
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scares
plural
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a sudden fright or alarm, especially with little or no reason.
I recently had a scare when my computer seemed to be malfunctioning, but it turned out to be nothing.
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a time or condition of alarm or worry.
During the anthrax scare, people were leery of opening envelopes from addresses they didn't recognize.
verb phrase
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scare away / off to frighten or alarm someone or something so much that they go away and stay away.
Business leaders felt the fuel tax would scare away consumers fearing higher electricity bills and rising gasoline costs.
The bee's sting isn't necessarily deadly, but it's painful enough to scare off predators.
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scare up to obtain with effort; find or gather.
We want to renovate the kitchen, but first we'll need to scare up some money.
verb
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to fill or be filled with fear or alarm
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(tr; often foll by away or off) to drive (away) by frightening
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informal (tr) (foll by up)
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to produce (a meal) quickly from whatever is available
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to manage to find (something) quickly or with difficulty
brewers need to scare up more sales
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noun
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a sudden attack of fear or alarm
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a period of general fear or alarm
adjective
Synonym Usage
See frighten.
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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scaresimple
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scaressimple
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have scaredperfect
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has scaredperfect
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am scaringprogressive
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are scaringprogressive
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is scaringprogressive
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have been scaringperfect progressive
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has been scaringperfect progressive
Past
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scaredsimple
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had scaredperfect
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was scaringprogressive
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were scaringprogressive
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had been scaringperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of scare
First recorded in 1150–1200; (for the verb) Middle English skerren, from Old Norse skirra “to frighten,” derivative of skjarr “timid, shy”; (for the noun) late Middle English skere, derivative of the verb
Explanation
Scare is a verb that means frighten or intimidate. You might be embarrassed to admit that you don't want to go to the beach with your friends because of how much seagulls scare you. Questions on a test you're unprepared for might scare you, and so might a barking dog. To scare is to spook, startle, or cause fear, and what scares your best friend most (like losing his job) might not be what would scare you more than anything (like discovering a huge snake in your shower). You can also use scare as a noun, as in "It gave me such a scare when all my friends jumped out and yelled, 'Surprise!'"
Vocabulary lists containing scare
Terrify
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Terrify
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Terrify
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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:
The food-safety scare has arrived as chains throw more discounts at consumers who are scrutinizing their budgets more carefully due to higher costs of living.
From MarketWatch ● Aug. 11, 2026
The latest food scare casualties are Taco Bell owner Yum Brands and salad chain Sweetgreen, hit by cyclosporiasis.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 10, 2026
That comes from finding common ground, not from scare ads and nasty attacks.
From Salon ● Aug. 10, 2026
The Daily Mirror carries an exclusive interview with football pundit Chris Kamara, who has revealed that he had a prostate cancer scare after a routine blood test.
From BBC ● Aug. 7, 2026
I close us in so the shouting doesn’t scare her.
From "The Tenth Mistake of Hank Hooperman" by Gennifer Choldenko
To be clear, that example about ambulances scares me, too.
From MarketWatch ● Aug. 7, 2026
Horror fans waiting for jump scares will be thwarted.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 6, 2026
“The scares are not good for everybody else, but sometimes they can really drive business for us,” Cook said.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 2, 2026
He has also survived health scares, notably a fall in his bathroom in 2024 that caused a brain bleed.
From Barron's ● Aug. 2, 2026
Which scares the little kid so much she starts sobbing.
From "Shine!" by J.J. and Chris Grabenstein
He advises freshers to act confident - even if you're scared inside - and to put yourself out there.
From BBC ● Aug. 15, 2026
"I'm not scared of whatever comes next," she continued.
From BBC ● Aug. 14, 2026
“Even if you’re scared, do it,” she said.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 13, 2026
It’s testament to this idea about opening up your creative world; about trying something and taking a risk and not being scared to make an opportunity work, about accepting ideas for what they are.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 11, 2026
He seemed to be in charge of the other children, and if he got scared enough, he’d not only lead them out of the forest but deter them from coming back.
From "The Undead Fox of Deadwood Forest" by Aubrey Hartman
Fuel shortages and economic turmoil are scaring away foreign visitors.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 6, 2026
A series of military exercises taking place in empty buildings across the Southland are scaring residents and rattling neighbors as the sound of gunfire rings out in the dark and troops descend from helicopters.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 6, 2026
“Higher mortgage rates are scaring off some buyers, but that’s opening the door for others,” Chen Zhao, Redfin’s head of economics research, said in a statement.
From Barron's ● May 26, 2026
Resident Faye Sturgess said: "Being a farming community, we're used to hearing bangs from scaring the rabbits in the fields, but this was like nothing I've ever heard."
From BBC ● May 10, 2026
After a second she said, “’Lijah, sweetheart, you’s scaring me to death!
From "Elijah of Buxton" by Christopher Paul Curtis
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.
