scaredy-cat

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.

The first records of scaredy-cat come from the 1930s. It is a combination of scared, the adjective version of the verb scare, and the suffix -y, which is used to make adjectives. (Of course, scared is already an adjective, so adding a –y to it is unusual, but not unheard of—the same thing happens in the word raggedy). The word scaredy can be used by itself, but this is very uncommon. The synonym fraidy-cat is recorded earlier, in the early 1900s, and is based on a shortening of the word afraid. Both terms probably use the word cat because cats are known for being easily startled.

Scaredy-cat is mostly used by children as an insult or a playful tease, but it is also used by adults, especially when trying to be a bit funny by using a childish word. Scaredy-cat can be applied to someone who is afraid to do something or to someone who is generally timid or cowardly. Most commonly, it is used when trying to pressure someone to do something that they’re afraid of, as in Don’t be such a scaredy-cat—just climb this really steep cliff with us so we can explore that pitch black cave that’s infested with spiders and probably haunted!

What are some synonyms for scaredy-cat?

• fraidy-cat
• coward

What are some words that share a root or word element with scaredy-cat? 

• scared
• scarecrow

What are some words that often get used in discussing scaredy-cat?

• afraid
• frightened
• jumpy
• jittery
• uneasy
• high-strung

Scaredy-cat is used as an insult, but it’s usually a lighthearted one.

Kim is such a scaredy-cat! Now we know where Saint gets it from #KUWTK

— Khloé (@khloekardashian) September 16, 2019

I’m finally watching @JordanPeele’s Us. I got really scared of the commercial so opted out (yes, I’m a big scaredy-cat. My own stories have scared me!). I’m at the gym, on the treadmill, around a lot of exercising people, it’s bright, it should be ok…let’s see how this goes. 😬

— Nnedi Okorafor, PhD (@Nnedi) December 28, 2019

That moment you find the biggest cockroach in the world in your house and your wife has to find out how much of a scaredy-cat you are.

— gawvi (@GAWVI) June 25, 2015

Which of the following words would NOT be used to describe a scaredy-cat?

A. timid
B. jittery
C. composed
D. jumpy