scaredy-cat
Americannoun
-
scaredy-cats
plural
noun
Usage
What does scaredy-cat mean? A scaredy-cat is a person who is easily frightened. Scaredy-cat is very informal and is most often used by children. It is synonymous with fraidy-cat. Example: He won’t go into the haunted house because he’s a scaredy-cat.
Other Word Forms
Noun Inflected Forms
Etymology
Origin of scaredy-cat
First recorded in 1930–35; scared ( def. ) + -y 2 + cat ( def. ) (in the slang sense “person, man”)
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:
Horror fans and those who like to be in the know must see it, though if you’re a scaredy-cat, maybe watch this one during the day.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 26, 2026
As a pacifist — i.e., a scaredy-cat — it wasn’t a story I would have sought on my own.
From Washington Post ● Feb. 8, 2022
Without them, a youngster described by his sister Maribel as "a scaredy-cat" may never have transformed into the 'raging bull' we know on court as one of the most ferociously competitive athletes of his generation.
From BBC ● May 25, 2021
I honestly didn’t expected it to, as I’m a complete scaredy-cat — I have never been able to handle any “Resident Evil” game.
From Los Angeles Times ● Feb. 9, 2021
I feel ashamed of myself for being a scaredy-cat.
From "Before We Were Free" by Julia Alvarez
Many self-described scaredy-cats will face their fears, particularly with Peele’s films, because of the critical buzz and the cultural importance of a black filmmaker creating horror movies starring black people and tackling weighty issues.
From Washington Post ● Mar. 22, 2019
The less credence she gives the purveyors of these potshots, the more they’ll come across as the hysterical scaredy-cats they are.
From Slate ● Nov. 16, 2018
IT is rare on Madison Avenue to hear, at least publicly, suggestions that executives are scaredy-cats who are afraid to take risks.
From New York Times ● Sep. 30, 2014
Macs, I claimed, were "glorified Fisher-Price activity centres for adults; computers for scaredy-cats too nervous to learn how proper computers work."
From The Guardian ● Feb. 28, 2011
“You’re a bunch of scaredy-cats anyway—there was no bullet in the chamber,” she says.
From "Dry" by Neal Shusterman and Jarrod Shusterman
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.
