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View definitions for eerie

eerie

adjective as in spooky

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Example Sentences

Faintly we heard the eerie traces of high-pitched whale song, the complicated variation that the males sing, perhaps to warn off other males.

Though this groundbreaking work could lead to better treatments for stroke and other brain injuries, it also opened an eerie gray zone between the living and the dead.

The next day was beautiful, made eerie by the absence of the activity that usually pervades the first day of school in any city.

It’s an odd concept, but in Schweblin’s hands, it works, and the result is an eerie, fascinating meditation on privacy, surveillance, and performance.

Yet our first step was taken even earlier, revealed by an eerie homage to the underworld buried within the foothills of Turkey’s Taurus Mountains.

Yet the eerie echoing of the earlier faux interview in another major media outlet was unsettling for jazz lovers.

Yet there are glimpses of surpassingly eerie dystopian beauty.

An examination of the eerie similarities between Litchfield Prison and Agrestic.

Plus wearing gowns, gloves, goggles and masks imparts an eerie moonwalk sensation as one enters the facility.

The music is eerie and disturbing, and it is easy to imagine how revolutionary it sounded in 1983.

Overhead the rocky walls began to close, the light grew dim, ahead came that eerie glow from the magnetic statue.

She smiled like one who saw a happy vision, and an eerie expression stole into her face.

With another eerie howl the machine soared once more and bobbed completely over the cone to the street which must lie beyond it.

The eerie scream that came echoing through the ship seemed to lift up every single strand of hair on Thompson's head.

As Barney said, it made him “feel quite solemn-like and eerie to travel through the woods by wather.”

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Frequently Asked Questions

What is another word for eerie?

Probably the closest synonym for eerie is spooky.

These words are usually used to describe an atmosphere or place that’s scary in a subtle way—not due to obvious danger but rather to a perceived uncanny quality that’s perhaps supernatural and sinister (evil). A classic example of a place described as eerie is a haunted house.

Similar words include creepy, chilling, foreboding, menacing, and ominous. These all suggest a frightening quality, but, unlike eerie and spooky, don’t imply that there is anything otherworldly about it.

You can describe an eerie place as giving you the creeps, creeping you out, or inspiring a sense of dread

Sometimes the best way to indicate that a place is eerie is to show instead of tell: when describing it, instead of using the word eerie, describe the things that actually make it eerie, like the strange sounds coming from the attic and the painting of a girl whose eyes seem to follow you around the room.

What is another word for eerie silence?

An eerie silence is a silence that seems too quiet—one that suggests something bad is going to happen. An eerie silence isn’t necessarily entirely silent—the breeze might be blowing in the background, for example—but it is lacking some of the sounds you might expect to hear normally. A forest without any birds singing (at a time when they normally would be) might be described as eerily silent.

Words to describe an eerie silence include strange and unnatural.

What is the opposite (antonym) of eerie?

Eerie describes things that are subtly frightening due to seeming strange or unnatural. The opposite of an eerie atmosphere is one that’s familiar or ordinary in a way that’s comforting, welcoming, calming, or reassuring.

Is it eerie or eery?

It can be spelled either way, but eerie is much more common.

How do you use eerie in a sentence?

Eerie is used to suggest unnaturalness and creepiness.

Here are some examples of eerie in a sentence:

  • The house was so eerie once we’d moved all our stuff out—like it was a different place altogether. 
  • At dawn, there was an eerie silence over the lake, and the strange mist made it even eerier. 
  • Walking among the mannequins in the abandoned department was too eerie for me.

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On this page you'll find 65 synonyms, antonyms, and words related to eerie, such as: bizarre, creepy, fantastic, frightening, ghostly, and mysterious.

From Roget's 21st Century Thesaurus, Third Edition Copyright © 2013 by the Philip Lief Group.

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