scary

English

Etymology 1

scare +‎ -y

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): /ˈskeəɹi/
  • enPR: skâr'ē
  • Audio (US)(file)

Adjective

scary (comparative scarier, superlative scariest)

  1. (colloquial) Causing or able to cause fright
    The tiger's jaws were scary.
    She was hiding behind her pillow during the scary parts of the film.
  2. (US, colloquial) Subject to sudden alarm; nervous, jumpy.
    (Can we find and add a quotation of Whittier to this entry?)
    • 1916, Texas Department of Agriculture, Bulletin (issues 47-57), page 150:
      And let us say to these interests that, until the Buy-It-Made-In-Texas movement co-operates with the farmers, we are going to be a little scary of the snare.
Synonyms
Translations

Etymology 2

From dialectal English scare (“scraggy”).

Noun

scary

  1. Barren land having only a thin coat of grass.

Anagrams

This article is issued from Wiktionary. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.