adjective
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ghostly or eerie
a spooky house
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resembling or appropriate to a ghost
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easily frightened; highly strung
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Adjectives
Etymology
Origin of spooky
Explanation
Spooky things make a shiver go down your spine—they're scary or creepy. A movie's spooky music might be enough to make you cover your eyes in fear. This informal adjective is perfect for talking about things that make you feel afraid or deeply uneasy. Haunted houses are spooky, and the sound of quiet footsteps crunching through the leaves outside your tent at night are spooky too—at least until your brother yells, "Boo!" You can also use spooky to mean "easily spooked," like a nervous horse that jumps at the slightest sound.
Vocabulary lists containing spooky
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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:
Despite the alleged spooky activity, she doesn’t plan to let go of the home, hoping to “hang onto” it “well into retirement,” and someday pass it onto her children.
From MarketWatch ● Nov. 2, 2026
A number of spooky events also took place in neighbouring Artigarvan, Castlederg, and Newtownstewart.
From BBC ● Oct. 31, 2026
Tune in to this spooky episode of Decoder Ring for “a seasonally appropriate literary mystery—one full of doppelgängers, supervillains, plot twists, and vampires who just refuse to die.”
From Slate ● Oct. 30, 2026
But the scary mommy is really having a moment this spooky season.
From Salon ● Oct. 30, 2026
The light from the device cast a spooky blue glow across the large room—bigger than Mark would’ve guessed—revealing two long rows of bunks fining both walls, probably ten on each side.
From "The Kill Order (Maze Runner, Book Four; Origin)" by James Dashner
A chance encounter with a simpatico married pair offers the possibility of friendship—but soon gives way to something spookier.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 15, 2026
While Ortega wore a bright pink Valentino dress to last year's Met Gala, this year she went with a distinctly spookier and more gothic vibe.
From BBC ● May 2, 2023
Organizers say that “while intended for all ages, the event is less scary during our daytime hours and gets spookier as the night goes on.”
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 7, 2021
If you want to get spookier, Google Nest speakers and displays can also play an hour-long playlist of Halloween-themed sounds and music.
From The Verge ● Sep. 28, 2021
Somehow, seeing her like this was even spookier than seeing her as a mummy.
From "The Last Olympian" by Rick Riordan
The eerie glow provided a fitting finale to spookiest night of the year, delighting skywatchers and photographers alike.
From BBC ● Nov. 1, 2026
Peck’s area actually made this year’s list of spookiest cities in America: Cape May was ranked sixth by home-security company Vivint.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 31, 2026
Rather, they are merely Halloween-inspired, containing candies that are shaped like bats and cats — undeniably two of the spookiest creatures.
From Salon ● Sep. 29, 2025
Not any more, now that I put together this guide to what to do in and around New York City during the year’s spookiest month.
From New York Times ● Sep. 30, 2023
It gits almighty cold there in September, an' it was sure the spookiest show I ever seen.
From Humorous Ghost Stories by Dorothy Scarborough
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Get a wordDefinitions 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.
