English Explanatory Dictionary

eerie

English dictionary entry

Meanings

adj
  1. Inspiring fear, especially in a mysterious or shadowy way; strange, weird.
  2. Frightened, timid.
noun
  1. An eerie creature or thing.
noun
  1. Alternative spelling of eyrie.

Pronunciation

/ˈɪəɹi/ En-uk-eerie.ogg /ˈɪɹi/ En-us-eerie.ogg /ˈɪɚi/ /ˈiɹi/ /ˈiɹɪ/ /ˈiɹe/ /ˈiəɹi/ /ˈɛːɹi/

Word forms

eerie eerier eeriest eery eeries

Etymology

From Middle English eri (“fearful”), from Old English earg (“cowardly, fearful”), from Proto-West Germanic *arg, from Proto-Germanic *argaz. Akin to Scots ergh, argh from the same Old English source. Doublet of argh.

Synonyms

chilling creepy eldritch freakish frightening grim offputting scary sinister spooky unsettling aberrant abnormal alien anomalous as queer as Dick's hatband bizarre booky curious deviant discrepant eerie errant exceptional extraordinary fey forby freak freaky fremd funny heteroclite hinky incongruous incongruitous irregular kooky monstrous nonstandard odd outlandish out of the ordinary outré peculiar quaint queer queer as a clockwork orange queer as a nine bob note queer as a three dollar bill queer as a coot queer as Dick's hatband rare rum rummy selcouth seld singular strange trippy uncanny

Related words

sus

Derived words

eerieness eerily eeriness eerisome
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