Crossword Dictionary

eerie

eerie, eery - a 

inspiring a feeling of fear; strange and frightening

Wordplays

Synonyms

creepy, haunting, spookish, spooky, uncanny, unearthly, weird

sentence examples

“The flames cast an eerie glow.”

"a land of eerie beauty"

“Laughter disappeared, an eerie silence taking its place.”

Merriam-Webster

etymology

eerie (adj.)

also eery, c. 1300, "timid, affected by superstitious fear," north England and Scottish variant of Old English earg "cowardly, fearful, wretched; slow, indolent, useless," from Proto-Germanic *arh- (source also of Old Frisian erg "evil, bad," Middle Dutch arch "bad," Dutch arg, Old High German arg "cowardly, worthless," German arg "bad, wicked," Old Norse argr "unmanly, voluptuous," Swedish arg "malicious"). Sense of "causing fear because of strangeness" is first attested 1792. Finnish arka "cowardly" is a Germanic loan-word.

eerie

adjective

so mysterious, strange, or unexpected as to send a chill up the spine.

SYNONYMS

creepy, haunting, spookish, spooky, uncanny, unearthly, weird

EXAMPLES:

‘The eerie rock-concert–meets–slasher-film music video also makes good on the song’s title, arriving with near-perfect timing just days before Halloween.’

‘In Lynch’s film, their arrival is heralded by the eerie spectacle of short bolts of lightning sparking up from the sand.’

‘Use it to create an eerie glow arising from a decorative grave or a trail of blood running from a gory display.’

‘The boats’ green lights, used to attract squid, cast an eerie glow in the night sky.’