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.
Appeared in the June 24, 2026, print edition as 'Europeans Are Scared to Spend, and Economy Suffers'.
From The Wall Street Journal • Jun. 24, 2026
Scared money sits in a vault and pretends to read the Wall Street Journal.
From MarketWatch • Dec. 5, 2025
Scared for her four children, Medina went inside the house and called her husband, Jorge Saldana, 30, who was at a nearby laundromat washing clothes.
From Los Angeles Times • Jun. 15, 2025
Scared of being detained or deported, some families have chosen to leave Islamabad and Rawalpindi.
From BBC • Mar. 2, 2025
Scared of anyone with money and a noble title.
From "The Assassination of Brangwain Spurge" by M.T. Anderson and Eugene Yelchin
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.
