scare

B1 Topic:Emotions & Feelings

Also spelled scarin, skeer, and sk’yers

US /skɛɚ/ UK /skɛə/ See IPA manual

noun verb Freq #1986

Meanings

1

verb
To make someone feel frightened.

Did it scare you when I shouted "Boo!"?
2

noun
A sudden feeling of fear.

You gave me a real scare jumping out like that!
3

noun
A situation that makes many people worried or afraid.

A food-poisoning scare closed several restaurants.

Thesaurus

Synonyms

1 verb · to make someone feel... frighten

More fright terrify

Word family

Forms scaresscaringunscared

Derived forms bescarebird-scarerjump-scarejumpscareoutscareoverscarescare-babescare-beggarscare-sleepscare-the-birdsscareablescarebug

Related forms scarecrow

Etymology

From Middle English scaren, skaren, scarren, skeren, skerren, from Old Norse skirra (“to frighten; to shrink away from, shun; to prevent, avert”), from Proto-Germanic *skirzijaną (“to shoo, scare off”), from Proto-Indo-European *(s)ker- (“to swing, jump, move”). Related to Old Norse skjarr (“timid, shy, afraid of”). Cognate with Scots skar (“wild, timid, shy”), dialectal Norwegian Nynorsk skjerra, dialectal Swedish skjarra and possibly Old Armenian ցիռ (cʻiṙ, “wild ass”).

scaren Middle English skirra Old Norse *skirzijaną Proto-Germanic *(s)ker- Proto-Indo-European

View etymology graph ->

Topics

Emotions & Feelings

# scare

**Type:** Word
**Level:** B1
**Part of speech:** noun, verb
**IPA (US):** skɛɚ
**IPA (UK):** skɛə
**Frequency rank:** 1986

## Meanings
1. To make someone feel frightened.
2. A sudden feeling of fear.
3. A situation that makes many people worried or afraid.

## Examples
- Did it scare you when I shouted "Boo!"?
- You gave me a real scare jumping out like that!
- A food-poisoning scare closed several restaurants.

## Synonyms
- fright
- frighten
- terrify

## Derived Forms
- bescare
- bird-scarer
- jump-scare
- jumpscare
- outscare
- overscare
- scare-babe
- scare-beggar
- scare-sleep
- scare-the-birds
- scareable
- scarebug

## Related Forms
- scarecrow

## Roots and Affixes
- Root: scaren
- Root: skirra
- Root: *skirzijaną
- Root: *(s)ker-

## Etymology
From Middle English scaren, skaren, scarren, skeren, skerren, from Old Norse skirra (“to frighten; to shrink away from, shun; to prevent, avert”), from Proto-Germanic *skirzijaną (“to shoo, scare off”), from Proto-Indo-European *(s)ker- (“to swing, jump, move”). Related to Old Norse skjarr (“timid, shy, afraid of”). Cognate with Scots skar (“wild, timid, shy”), dialectal Norwegian Nynorsk skjerra, dialectal Swedish skjarra and possibly Old Armenian ցիռ (cʻiṙ, “wild ass”).

## AI Etymology
Scare comes from Middle English scaren, skaren, scarren, skeren, skerren, from Old Norse skirra (“to frighten; to shrink away from, shun; to prevent, avert”), from Proto-Germanic *skirzijaną (“to shoo, scare off”), from Proto-Indo-European *(s)ker- (“to swing, jump, move”). Related to Old Norse skjarr (“timid, shy, afraid of”). Cognate with Scots skar (“wild, timid, shy”), dialectal Norwegian Nynorsk skjerra, dialectal Swedish skjarra and possibly Old Armenian ցիռ (cʻiṙ, “wild ass”). Modern senses include to make someone feel frightened. and a sudden feeling of fear.. The wider word family includes derivatives such as bescare, bird-scarer, jump-scare, jumpscare, outscare, and overscare and related forms such as scarecrow.

## Topics
- Emotions & Feelings

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