scare story

[ skair stawr-ee ]

noun

1. a story or report, especially in a news source, that uses sensationalism to make a situation seem more dangerous or worrying than it is in reality.

Word History and Origins

Origin of scare story¹

First recorded in 1895–1900

Example Sentences

Climate change is also part of the conspiracy, another contrived scare story to groom people into accepting enslavement and domination.

From Salon

The latest scare story claims that ivermectin causes "sterility," which is spreading like wildfire in left-leaning social media, even though it's been thoroughly and easily debunked.

From Salon

This is not a scare story about Provincetown, whose Covid numbers have dropped as its Covid precautions have risen.

From New York Times

In much of the media coverage of anti-vaxxers, the tendency is to frame them as passive victims of misinformation, as if they saw some scare story on Facebook about vaccine dangers and decided, based on that, to reject the vaccine.

From Salon

Mr. Johnson, he said, initially dismissed the pandemic as a “scare story,” likening it to the swine flu.

From New York Times