Nearby Words

eerie

[eer-ee] Example Sentences Origin

ee·rie

[eer-ee]
adjective, -ri·er, -ri·est.
1.
uncanny, so as to inspire superstitious fear; weird: an eerie midnight howl.
2.
Chiefly Scot. affected with superstitious fear.
Also, eery.


Origin:
1250–1300; Middle English eri, dialectal variant of argh, Old English earg cowardly; cognate with Old Frisian erg, Old Norse argr evil, German arg cowardly

ee·ri·ly, adverb
ee·ri·ness, noun

aerie, eerie, Erie.


1. See weird.

Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2012.
Cite This Source Link To eerie

:10

:09

:08

:07

:06

:05

:04

:03

:02

:01

Eerie is always a great word to know.
So is ninnyhammer. Does it mean:
a fool or simpleton; ninny.
an extraordinary or unusual thing, person, or event; an exceptional example or instance.
Example Sentences
  • Its eerie accuracy remains one of history's greatest mysteries.
  • The music on the soundtrack exaggerated the eerie atmosphere and kept me wary.
  • So passionate, so full of pain, it sounded strange and eerie.
EXPAND
Collins
World English Dictionary
eerie (ˈɪərɪ)
 
adj , eerier, eeriest
(esp of places, an atmosphere, etc) mysteriously or uncannily frightening or disturbing; weird; ghostly
 
[C13: originally Scottish and Northern English, probably from Old English earg cowardly, miserable]
 
'eerily
 
adv
 
'eeriness
 
n

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 10th Edition
2009 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009
Cite This Source
Etymonline
Word Origin & History

eerie
c.1300, north England and Scottish variant of O.E. earg "cowardly, fearful," from P.Gmc. *argaz (cf. O.N. argr "unmanly, voluptuous," Swed. arg "malicious," Ger. arg "bad, wicked"). Sense of "causing fear because of strangeness" is first attested 1792. Related: Eerily.
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper
Cite This Source
Dictionary.com, LLC. Copyright © 2012. All rights reserved.
  • Please Login or Sign Up to use the Recent Searches feature