scared
Americanadjective
verb
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of scared
Explanation
Have you ever gone into a dark room and heard something scurrying across the floor and felt your pulse quicken and your heart race? You were scared — afraid. When you are scared, you are frightened or alarmed. It can be a momentary thing: hearing a car screech outside your house and worrying that your dog just got hit. It can be longer: you might be scared for weeks or months after a medical diagnosis. While the verb is usually associated with a single person or small group, you might also apply it more generally: a fast-moving tornado could have scared a whole town.
Vocabulary lists containing scared
Emotions on Display
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In the Mood? 100 Words to Describe Emotions
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Hooked on a Feeling, List 1
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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.
“You hear the stories of the ‘token apocalypse,’ and we’re not scared of the token future,” said AT&T Chief Data and AI Officer Andy Markus.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 12, 2026
"It's so cold it feels like the city is actively trying to unalive my motivation… I'm not scared, I promise."
From BBC ● Aug. 12, 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
One passenger on the Porter Airlines plane, Aryeh Kozuch, told CBC News the child had not been unruly but had seemed scared.
From BBC ● Aug. 10, 2026
Should Clare be scared for his undead life?
From "The Undead Fox of Deadwood Forest" by Aubrey Hartman
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.
