Synonyms

scared

American

[skaird] / skɛərd /

adjective

filled with fear, terror, or dread, often suddenly; frightened; alarmed.

The doctor provided not only physical treatment but also moral guidance for scared patients with terminal diagnoses.
I came into college as a scared freshman and left as a confident, competent adult.

verb

the simple past tense and past participle of scare.

Other Word Forms

unscared

adjective

Etymology

Origin of scared

scare ( def. ) + -ed ² ( def. )

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.

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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.

Scared by his sincerity, Violetta warns him off with a bouncy display of vocal fireworks that declare that she isn’t one to be caged by commitment.

From The Wall Street Journal • Mar. 13, 2026

“I don’t want anything. I just wanna be OK. Scared brother.”

From Los Angeles Times • Dec. 29, 2025

Scared money sits in a vault and pretends to read the Wall Street Journal.

From MarketWatch • Dec. 5, 2025

"That was my own version of Scared Straight."

From BBC • Aug. 15, 2024

Scared the way she must have been that day she fell in the hole?

From "The One and Only Ivan" by Katherine Applegate

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