scare
Americanverb (used with object)
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scares,
present (3rd person singular)
-
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
-
scaring
present participle
noun
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scares
plural
-
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.
-
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 scare blue-tailed damselfly, one of the world's earliest flying insect species, was recorded alongside the River Ash near Hertford.
From BBC ● Nov. 1, 2026
Soaring candy prices have many Americans looking to scare up some extra value during what has been an already expensive year.
From MarketWatch ● Oct. 30, 2026
He soon met Star Romano, a fellow scare actor who moved into a leadership role at Dark Harbor and invited him to join two years ago.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 26, 2026
Kenyan authorities say they didn’t expect him, but were nonetheless ready to handle the health scare triggered by his arrival.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 21, 2026
Januka tells this like a horror story, the kind you scare your friends with in the middle of the night.
From "The Light in Hidden Places" by Sharon Cameron
And October didn’t content itself with those scares.
From MarketWatch ● Oct. 30, 2026
Get ready to buy the scares in the coming weeks, investment strategy firm Yardeni Research has advised.
From MarketWatch ● Oct. 26, 2026
But just as sales picked up, food-safety scares tied to lettuce and jalapeños ate into demand in the restaurant sector.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 13, 2026
When I ask Mandel whether writing out these alternate realities scares her or helps her to cope, she admits a bit of both.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 12, 2026
“I’m so glad to see you. Jello scares me to death these days.”
From "Julie of the Wolves" by Jean Craighead George
But I also feel awful that she’s scared about money.
From MarketWatch ● Nov. 2, 2026
"Who's going to get on a train now? Now you're scared when you do," said Cecilio, who wants such disasters to never happen again.
From Barron's ● Oct. 30, 2026
Hart’s “Meeting Ourselves” is woozy and vaguely threatening, with lines like “Don’t be scared / Open the door” bringing to mind a shadowy Lewis Carroll adventure.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 27, 2026
Ron says I’m inventing reasons because I’m scared of change.
From MarketWatch ● Oct. 24, 2026
‘We got it wrong!’ she panted, her eyes wide and scared.
From "Wolf Brother" by Michelle Paver
Investment in artificial intelligence is driving our economy and the markets but it’s also doing something else … scaring the hell out of people.
From Slate ● Oct. 27, 2026
It’s no secret there’s big business in scaring people: Horror movies are a box office staple, often costing the least to produce and resulting in the biggest profits.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 26, 2026
The picture above was taken by a man who posted on social media about "morons on electric bikes" scaring a nearby horse, external as they rode illegally on public footpaths.
From BBC ● Sep. 17, 2026
Mounting piles of garbage, stagnant water and a crumbling health system fueled outbreaks of mosquito-borne illnesses, further scaring away tourists.
From The Wall Street Journal ● May 27, 2026
“Clanging on metal all day long. You’re scaring away the birds!”
From "The House of Hades" by Rick Riordan
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Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
