eerie

ee-rie · adjective

imported

Definitions

adjective

  1. 1.

    Strange and frightening; inspiring a sense of fearful unease.

  2. 2.

    Mysteriously strange or unsettling.

Phrases & expressions

  • •
    eerie silence — an unsettling quietness
  • •
    eerie resemblance — an uncanny similarity
  • •
    eerie feeling — a sense of unease or foreboding

Related words

Antonyms: comforting, normal, ordinary
See also: creepy, spooky, uncanny
Synonyms: creepy, spooky, uncanny, unsettling, weird

Etymology

From Middle English eri ("fearful, timid"), from Old English earg ("cowardly"). The meaning shifted from describing a person's fearfulness to describing something that causes fear.