scare

[ skair ]

verb (used with object)

, scared, scar·ing.

1. to fill, especially suddenly, with fear or terror; frighten; alarm:

   What scares me most about the disease is the residual effects on the lungs and heart.

   The ducks scared my sister by flying right toward her.

   Synonyms: intimidate, startle

verb (used without object)

, scared, scar·ing.

1. to become frightened:

   That horse scares easily.

noun

1. a sudden fright or alarm, especially with little or no reason:

   I recently had a scare when my computer seemed to be malfunctioning, but it turned out to be nothing.

2. a time or condition of alarm or worry:

   During the anthrax scare, people were leery of opening envelopes from addresses they didn't recognize.

verb phrase

1. to frighten or alarm someone or something so much that they go away and stay away:

   Business leaders felt the fuel tax would scare away consumers fearing higher electricity bills and rising gasoline costs.

   The bee's sting isn't necessarily deadly, but it's painful enough to scare off predators.

2. Informal. to obtain with effort; find or gather:

   We want to renovate the kitchen, but first we'll need to scare up some money.

scare

/ skɛə /

verb

1. to fill or be filled with fear or alarm
2. tr; often foll by away or off to drive (away) by frightening
3. informal.
   tr foll by up
   1. to produce (a meal) quickly from whatever is available
   2. to manage to find (something) quickly or with difficulty

      brewers need to scare up more sales

noun

1. a sudden attack of fear or alarm
2. a period of general fear or alarm

adjective

1. causing (needless) fear or alarm

   a scare story

Derived Forms

• ˈscarer, noun

Other Words From

• scar·er noun
• scar·ing·ly adverb

Word History and Origins

Origin of scare¹

First recorded in 1150–1200; (for the verb) Middle English skerren, from Old Norse skirra “to frighten,” derivative of skjarr “timid, shy”; (for the noun) late Middle English skere, derivative of the verb

Word History and Origins

Origin of scare¹

C12: from Old Norse skirra; related to Norwegian skjerra, Swedish dialect skjarra

Idioms and Phrases

• run scared

Synonym Study

See frighten.

Example Sentences

In terms of horror, “The Medium” has some good scares but they are sandwiched between boring stretches where I mostly just walked through long hallways, or climbed obstacles, feeling lost.

From Washington Post

She has been able to keep the coronavirus at bay, but two weeks ago, she had a scare that forced her to close and get everyone tested after a child became ill.

From Washington Post

An artist and critic argues attention is a scare resource and should be directed where it can provide the most value.

From Washington Post

The real flagship SoC is the Snapdragon 888, so Qualcomm's use of "flagship" here definitely belongs in scare quotes.

From Ars Technica

The health scare comes amid a contentious divorce with his wife, Nicole Young, who is reportedly seeking $2 million a month in temporary spousal support and another $5 million in attorney fees.

From Washington Post

“Cultures” Versus “White Girls” As you can probably sense from my scare quotes, you can never be too careful these days.

From The Daily Beast

Mrs. Deshales ordered an ambulance, which managed to scare off Wahlberg and his pals.

From The Daily Beast

As we have seen, it is not just the fact that they scare people.

From The Daily Beast

Keep the scare quotes around gay “marriage,” or at least put an asterisk after it.

From The Daily Beast

An HIV scare, Rand Paul talking points, and a (maybe) proposition.

From The Daily Beast

The submarine scare is full on; the beastly things have frightened us more than all the Turks and all their German guns.

From Project Gutenberg

Then the other girls followed; but, just as Nelly got on, Robert Wood shook the plank, and tried to scare her.

From Project Gutenberg

London was growing quiet, so that the shrieks of the late newsboys with the evening scare could be distinctly heard there.

From Project Gutenberg

At night the train is increased by the addition of a torch-bearer, to scare off the wild beasts by the glare of his torch.

From Project Gutenberg

I'm half afraid to spend another night in the sleeper after the scare we got last night.

From Project Gutenberg

Related Words

• alarm
• panic
• shock