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eerie

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eerie¹

  • /ˈɪəɹi/ Australia, UK
  • /ˈɪːɹɪj/ British, Southern, Standard
  • /ˈɪɹi/
  • /ˈɪɚi/ US
  • /ˈiɹi/ US
  • /ˈiɾe/ Scotland
  • /ˈiɾɪ/ Scotland
  • /ˈiɾi/ Scotland
  • /ˈiəɹi/ New Zealand
  • /ˈɛːɹi/

Sounds like airy (cheer–chair merger) · Rhymes with -ɪəɹi

Where it comes from

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.

adjective eerier · eeriest · eery

  1. Inspiring fear, especially in a mysterious or shadowy way; strange, weird. The eerie sounds seemed to come from the graveyard after midnight.

    Similar: creepy, spooky, aberrant, abnormal, alien, anomalous, as queer as Dick's hatband, bizarre, booky, curious, deviant, discrepant

  2. Scotland Frightened, timid. She began to feel eerie.

Similar: chilling, creepy, eldritch, freakish, frightening, grim, offputting, scary, sinister, spooky, unsettling

noun eeries

  1. An eerie creature or thing. Other of these terrible Eeries began now to congregate beneath the canoe, taking courage by the example of their cowardly companion, all alike curious about this charming visitant in the upper world.

eerie²

  • /ˈɪəɹi/ Australia, UK
  • /ˈɪːɹɪj/ British, Southern, Standard
  • /ˈɪɹi/
  • /ˈɪɚi/ US
  • /ˈiɹi/ US
  • /ˈiɾe/ Scotland
  • /ˈiɾɪ/ Scotland
  • /ˈiɾi/ Scotland
  • /ˈiəɹi/ New Zealand
  • /ˈɛːɹi/

Sounds like airy (cheer–chair merger) · Rhymes with -ɪəɹi

Where it comes from

See eyrie.

noun eeries

  1. alternative Alternative spelling of eyrie I'm not sure, indeed, that we didn't scare the eagles from their eeries; at all events we thought we did.

Thesaurus

Closest in meaning: eery, strange, spooky, unusual, unnatural, eldritch, uncanny, weird, bizarre, peculiar, odd, dire, terrific, gruesome, sinister, horrifying

adjective

Similar: chilling, creepy, eldritch, freakish, frightening, grim, offputting, scary, sinister, spooky, unsettling

Translations

Every language

adj inspiring fear, especially in a mysterious or shadowy way

Españolespeluznante, inquietante, sobrecogedor, estremecedor, escalofriante
日本語不気味な bukimi-na
中文詭異 /诡异 guǐyì, 怪異 /怪异 guàiyì, 森森 sēnsēn
हिन्दीभुतहा bhuthā
Portuguêsestranho, assustador, esquisito
Françaisétrange, sinistre
Deutschunheimlich
Italianomisterioso, strano, agghiacciante, spaventevole
Românăstraniu, superstițios, ciudat, misterios
Русскийстра́нный stránnyj, жу́ткий žútkij, злове́щий zlovéščij, мра́чный mráčnyj, сверхъесте́ственный sverxʺjestéstvennyj

adj frightened, timid — see also frightened, timid

Españolespantoso
日本語恐ろしい osoroshii, 物凄い monosugoi
Françaiscraintif, timide, peureux
Deutschunheimlich
Românăînfricoșat, timid
Русскийжу́ткий žútkij, пуга́ющий pugájuščij, злове́щий zlovéščij

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MLA

"eerie." Wiktionary, via Micwyn, micwyn.com/word/eerie. Accessed 6 Nov. 2026.

APA

eerie. (n.d.). In Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Retrieved November 6, 2026, from https://micwyn.com/word/eerie

Chicago

"eerie." Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Accessed November 6, 2026. https://micwyn.com/word/eerie.

BibTeX
@misc{eerie_2026,
  title = {eerie},
  howpublished = {Wiktionary, via Micwyn},
  year = {2026},
  url = {https://micwyn.com/word/eerie},
  urldate = {2026-11-06}
}