eerie

C2+ Topic:Describing Qualities

US /ˈɪri/ UK /ˈɪəri/ See IPA manual

Homophones

eyrie /ˈɪri/

adj

Meanings

1

adj
strange and frightening in a mysterious way

An eerie silence hung over the abandoned house.

Thesaurus

Synonyms

1 adj · strange and frightening in... uncanny spooky sinister ghostly weird unearthly creepy

Opposites

reassuring comforting ordinary mundane

Word family

Forms eerily

Derived forms eerilyeeriness

Etymology

From Middle English eri, eri ('fearful, timid'), a northern English and Scots word probably from Old English earg ('cowardly, wretched'); the sense shifted from 'affected by fear' to 'inspiring fear, weird'.

earg Old English *argaz Proto-Germanic

View etymology graph ->

Topics

Describing Qualities

# eerie

**Type:** Word
**Level:** C2+
**Part of speech:** adj
**IPA (US):** ˈɪri
**IPA (UK):** ˈɪəri

## Meanings
1. strange and frightening in a mysterious way

## Examples
- An eerie silence hung over the abandoned house.

## Synonyms
- uncanny
- spooky
- sinister
- ghostly
- weird
- unearthly
- creepy

## Antonyms
- reassuring
- comforting
- ordinary
- mundane

## Derived Forms
- eerily
- eeriness

## Roots and Affixes
- Root: earg
- Root: *argaz

## Etymology
From Middle English eri, eri ('fearful, timid'), a northern English and Scots word probably from Old English earg ('cowardly, wretched'); the sense shifted from 'affected by fear' to 'inspiring fear, weird'.

## AI Etymology
Eerie is from Middle English eri, eri ('fearful, timid'), a northern English and Scots word probably from Old English earg ('cowardly, wretched'); the sense shifted from 'affected by fear' to 'inspiring fear, weird'. In present-day use, it means strange and frightening in a mysterious way. Derived formations include eerily and eeriness.

## Topics
- Describing Qualities

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