scare
Americanverb (used with object)
verb (used without object)
noun
-
a sudden fright or alarm, especially with little or no reason.
I recently had a scare when my computer seemed to be malfunctioning, but it turned out to be nothing.
-
a time or condition of alarm or worry.
During the anthrax scare, people were leery of opening envelopes from addresses they didn't recognize.
verb phrase
-
scare away / off to frighten or alarm someone or something so much that they go away and stay away.
Business leaders felt the fuel tax would scare away consumers fearing higher electricity bills and rising gasoline costs.
The bee's sting isn't necessarily deadly, but it's painful enough to scare off predators.
-
scare up to obtain with effort; find or gather.
We want to renovate the kitchen, but first we'll need to scare up some money.
verb
-
to fill or be filled with fear or alarm
-
(tr; often foll by away or off) to drive (away) by frightening
-
informal (tr) (foll by up)
-
to produce (a meal) quickly from whatever is available
-
to manage to find (something) quickly or with difficulty
brewers need to scare up more sales
-
noun
-
a sudden attack of fear or alarm
-
a period of general fear or alarm
adjective
Synonym Usage
See frighten.
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
-
scaresimple
-
scaressimple
-
have scaredperfect
-
has scaredperfect
-
am scaringprogressive
-
are scaringprogressive
-
is scaringprogressive
-
have been scaringperfect progressive
-
has been scaringperfect progressive
Past
-
scaredsimple
-
had scaredperfect
-
was scaringprogressive
-
were scaringprogressive
-
had been scaringperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of scare
First recorded in 1150–1200; (for the verb) Middle English skerren, from Old Norse skirra “to frighten,” derivative of skjarr “timid, shy”; (for the noun) late Middle English skere, derivative of the verb
Explanation
Scare is a verb that means frighten or intimidate. You might be embarrassed to admit that you don't want to go to the beach with your friends because of how much seagulls scare you. Questions on a test you're unprepared for might scare you, and so might a barking dog. To scare is to spook, startle, or cause fear, and what scares your best friend most (like losing his job) might not be what would scare you more than anything (like discovering a huge snake in your shower). You can also use scare as a noun, as in "It gave me such a scare when all my friends jumped out and yelled, 'Surprise!'"
Vocabulary lists containing scare
Terrify
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Terrify
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Terrify
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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.
See Examples For:
Argentina overcome a huge scare as they beat Cape Verde 3-2 in extra time thanks to a deflected header from Cristian Romero to advance to the last 16.
From BBC ● Jul. 4, 2026
She recommended pet owners learn the schedule of any nearby fireworks shows and make sure their pet is inside ahead of time — loud noises or bright, flashing lights could scare them away.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 3, 2026
“Even though we were all involved in everything, we didn’t want to jump in and scare him,” Susan said.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 1, 2026
But that shouldn’t scare investors away from the market.
From Barron's ● Jun. 26, 2026
If a vodyanoi was after her, she could scare it away with iron.
From Anya and the Dragon by Sofiya Pasternack
The buzz: Both teams are unbeaten and each survived scares in the quarterfinals, with England outlasting Norway in extra time in brutal weather in Miami and Argentina beating Switzerland in extra time in Kansas City.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 13, 2026
Rufus also scares pigeons away from Westminster Abbey and Lord's Cricket Ground, among other sites.
From BBC ● Jul. 6, 2026
“Widow’s Bay” has its share of jump scares, but for the most part, its frights are bearable and its symbols are heavier on text as opposed to subtext.
From Salon ● Jun. 18, 2026
These patients “are having more and more and more scares, biopsies, concerns, and they feel like they already have cancer,” she said.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 7, 2026
“Oh, you hired him,” she says with this fake lightness that scares me.
From "On the Come Up" by Angie Thomas
Parent Laura Weller said the class was a safe space to "create new things, and just not be scared of cooking and making healthy choices".
From BBC ● Jul. 14, 2026
These are happy times for folks who want to be scared.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 10, 2026
"Initially I was scared to lie down, especially on my back, as I would remember the time I spent in the rubble," she said.
From BBC ● Jul. 6, 2026
"We will stay in the hotel when the storm comes. I am scared," the office worker told AFP.
From Barron's ● Jul. 5, 2026
I’m used to seeing them so I wasn’t too scared.
From "Code Name Kingfisher" by Liz Kessler
“Higher mortgage rates are scaring off some buyers, but that’s opening the door for others,” Chen Zhao, Redfin’s head of economics research, said in a statement.
From Barron's ● May 26, 2026
In a radio interview Tuesday, he warned Mamdani against scaring off wealthy people like the Citadel chief executive.
From The Wall Street Journal ● May 12, 2026
StepChange said this was counterproductive, scaring people who can't, rather than won't, pay.
From BBC ● Mar. 22, 2026
In horror, more is more — more gore, more jump scares, more shadowed silhouettes; all in service of scaring the viewer.
From Salon ● Mar. 15, 2026
Claire was smart, she had friends, and she was going to find some way, I knew, to get back at me for scaring her and her brother.
From "Ida B" by Katherine Hannigan
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.
