scarecrow
Americannoun
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scarecrows
plural
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an object, usually a figure of a person in old clothes, set up to frighten crows or other birds away from crops.
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anything frightening but not really dangerous.
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a person in ragged clothes.
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an extremely thin person.
noun
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an object, usually in the shape of a man, made out of sticks and old clothes to scare birds away from crops
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a person or thing that appears frightening but is not actually harmful
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informal
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an untidy-looking person
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a very thin person
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Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Etymology
Origin of scarecrow
Explanation
Farmers use scarecrows, or human-shaped decoys, to frighten off birds that might eat their seeds or crops. If your sunflowers are being ravaged by starlings, try dressing a scarecrow in your old clothes! Scarecrow dates from the 1550s — earlier it was known as a shoy-hoy, which imitates the cry of a crow. The original scarecrows were actual people who were hired to stand in the middle of a field scaring crows and other birds away. Mannequins dressed in hats and other clothing mainly filled this role starting in the 16th century, and the word soon came to be used as a pejorative description for a "gaunt, ridiculous person" as well.
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:
"A solo scarecrow is sinister enough. A gaggle of scarecrows is terrifying."
From BBC ● Oct. 23, 2026
It’s also about curses and a giant house that moves around on chicken legs and a turnip-headed scarecrow and pollution and . . . see what I mean?
From Salon ● Aug. 4, 2026
Mr. Plemons, who has slimmed down to scarecrow dimensions to suit a character who has renounced all worldly pleasures, is one of those rare actors who never seem to be acting.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 23, 2025
The researchers focused on two key regulators of cell division in Arabidopsis -- proteins called short-root and scarecrow that, together, prompt dividing root cells to make the switch.
From Science Daily ● Feb. 9, 2024
She was as thin as a scarecrow, but that didn’t stop her from almost crushing me.
From "The Last Olympian" by Rick Riordan
Mr Tayebwa said he has been engaging farmers to use different deterrent methods like scarecrows to protect their crops from invading cranes.
From BBC ● Feb. 15, 2025
Leisurely cooking a Julia-inspired feast, soundtracked by my favorite Spotify playlists while leaves fall outside and scarecrows, gourds and Halloween decorations begin to decorate the streets — it doesn't get much better than that.
From Salon ● Sep. 3, 2023
Everywhere I turned, I saw decorations for Halloween, Thanksgiving and Christmas all merged into a torture chamber bedecked with lighted trees, inflatable grinches, pumpkins, scarecrows and turkey fryers.
From Washington Post ● Nov. 22, 2022
Every year, the town of Benicia, California encourages local businesses to make creative scarecrows for Halloween.
From NewsForKids.net ● Oct. 21, 2022
We break out the wreaths, the cornstalks, the hay bales, the wood smoke, and the scarecrows.
From "The Serpent King" by Jeff Zentner
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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.
