eerie

English

Alternative forms

• eery

Etymology

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

Pronunciation

• (General American) IPA^(key): /ˈɪɹi/

  • Audio (US)

    (file)

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /ˈɪəɹi/

  • Audio (UK)

    (file)

• Rhymes: -ɪəɹi
• Homophone: Erie

Adjective

eerie (comparative eerier, superlative eeriest)

1. Strange, weird, fear-inspiring, especially in a shadowy or mysterious way.

   Synonyms: creepy, spooky

   The eerie sounds seemed to come from the graveyard after midnight.

   • 1899 February, Joseph Conrad, “The Heart of Darkness”, in Blackwood’s Edinburgh Magazine, volume CLXV, number M, New York, N.Y.: The Leonard Scott Publishing Company, […], OCLC 1042815524, part I, page 200:

     An eerie feeling came over me.

   • 1943, H. Lorna Bingham, The Lost Tribe, Sydney: Winn and Co., page 13, column 2:

     Dan was beginning to feel very depressed when suddenly the eerie howl of a dingo rang out[.]

2. (Scotland) Frightened, timid.
   • 1883, George MacDonald, Donal Grant:

     She began to feel eerie.

   • 1902, John Buchan, The Outgoing of the Tide

     'It is my business to read the hearts o' men,' said the other.
     'And who may ye be?' said Heriotside, growing eerie.

Synonyms

• See also Thesaurus:strange

Derived terms

• eerily (adverb)
• eeriness (noun)
• eerisome

Translations

weird

• Bulgarian: странен (bg) (stranen), свръхестествен (bg) (svrǎhestestven)
• Catalan: misteriós (ca)
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 詭異 (zh), 怪異 (zh), 怪异 (zh) (guàiyì), 森森 (zh) (sēnsēn)

• Czech: tajuplný, podivný (cs), tajemný (cs), děsivý, strašidelný, nahánějící hrůzu
• Dutch: vreemd (nl)
• Finnish: outo (fi)
• French: étrange (fr), sinistre (fr)
• Galician: estrano, arrevasado, arcano (gl)
• German: unheimlich (de)
• Hungarian: furcsa (hu), titokzatos (hu), különös (hu), sejtelmes (hu), kísérteties (hu), baljós (hu), hátborzongató (hu)
• Irish: aerachtúil
• Italian: misterioso (it), strano (it), agghiacciante (it), spaventevole (it)
• Japanese: 不気味な (ja) (ぶきみな, bukimi-na)
• Macedonian: чу́ден (čúden), мра́чен (mráčen), мо́рничав (mórničav), зло́кобен (zlókoben)
• Maori: whakahaehae
• Norwegian: skummel, nifs
• Portuguese: estranho (pt), assustador (pt), esquisito (pt)
• Romanian: straniu (ro), superstițios (ro), ciudat (ro) m, misterios (ro) m
• Russian: стра́нный (ru) (stránnyj), жу́ткий (ru) (žútkij), злове́щий (ru) (zlovéščij), мра́чный (ru) (mráčnyj), сверхъесте́ственный (ru) (sverxʺjestéstvennyj)
• Serbo-Croatian: stran (sh), čudan (sh)
• Slovak: zvláštny, čudný, podozrivý (sk)
• Spanish: misterioso, extraño (es)
• Swedish: konstig (sv) c, skum (sv), mystisk (sv), kuslig (sv)
• Turkish: ürkütücü (tr), esrarengiz (tr)

frightened

• Bulgarian: внушаващ суеверен страх (vnušavašt sueveren strah)
• Catalan: espantós (ca)
• Czech: bázlivý (cs), postrašený, vystrašený, nesmělý
• Dutch: vreesachtig (nl), angstaanjagend (nl)
• Finnish: pelottava (fi)
• French: craintif (fr), timide (fr), peureux (fr)
• Galician: rabeco, broco, abraiento, estarrecedor (gl)
• German: unheimlich (de)
• Japanese: 恐ろしい (ja) (おそろしい, osoroshii), 物凄い (ものすごい, monosugoi)
• Norwegian: engstelig (no)
• Romanian: înfricoșat (ro) m, timid (ro) m
• Russian: жу́ткий (ru) (žútkij), пуга́ющий (ru) (pugájuščij), злове́щий (ru) (zlovéščij) (intensification)
• Swedish: kuslig (sv)

The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.

Translations to be checked

• Korean: ^{(please verify)} 어리다 (ko) (eorida), ^{(please verify)} 어리치다 (eorichida), ^{(please verify)} 야릇하다 (ko) (yareuthada), ^{(please verify)} 홀리다 (ko) (hollida)
• Slovak: strašidelný, zlovestný