eerie

adjective ee·rie \ ˈir-ē \

variants: or less commonly eery

|Updated on: 6 Aug 2018

Tip: Synonym Guide

Examples: eerie in a Sentence

Definition of eerie

eerier; eeriest

1 : so mysterious, strange, or unexpected as to send a chill up the spine

a coyote's eerie howl

the similarities were eerie

; also : seemingly not of earthly origin

the flames cast an eerie glow

2 chiefly Scotland : affected with fright : scared

—

eerily

play \ˈir-ə-lē\ adverb

—

eeriness

play \ˈir-ē-nəs\ noun

See eerie defined for English-language learners

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Examples of eerie in a Sentence

The flames cast an eerie glow.
a land of eerie beauty

Recent Examples of eerie from the Web

But every once in a while, a neutrino will hit into an atom of that ice, and breaks it apart, there’s a momentary flash of an eerie blue light.

— brian resnick, Vox, "Physicists are unveiling cool, new findings from a South Pole neutrino observatory Thursday. Here’s how to watch.," 12 July 2018
The scene disturbs for the same reason Lift’s character is such an eerie villain: Even with all its bizarre elements, the central tension of Lift’s arc reflects trenchant concerns.

— hannah giorgis, The Atlantic, "Sorry to Bother You Has an Eerily Familiar Villain," 10 July 2018
The Handmaid’s Tale has become known for its eclectic soundtrack, which somehow makes Gilead feel even more eerie.

— claire dodson, Teen Vogue, ""Handmaid's Tale" Episode 3 Features Gwen Stefani's "Hollaback Girl"," 3 May 2018
Meiko takes the bubbly, heart-fluttering pop tune and puts a dramatic edge on it, brimming with reverb that make the singer’s passionate vocals alluringly eerie.

— abby jones, Billboard, "Meiko Premieres Sultry, Stripped-Down Cover of Jennifer Paige's 'Crush': Exclusive," 26 Apr. 2018
Ten days after eerie-sounding news for the free-to-play online game Paragon, the series' creators at Epic Games confirmed fans' looming suspicions: the game will soon shut down.

— sam machkovech, Ars Technica, "After suggesting that Fortnite is a priority, Epic shuts down another F2P game," 26 Jan. 2018
To check out all the amazing and occasionally eerie highlights from this NOAA expedition, visit the expedition’s page.

— kelli bender, ajc, "'Horror' lizardfish and weird unidentifiable creatures found chilling off Carolina coast," 13 July 2018
Add an eerie glow to your costume by hot gluing miniature LED light bulbs to a coin cell battery.

— Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, "Be a maker: 5 fun ideas for kid-made projects," 15 Sep. 2017
The title track sets a confiding but eerie atmosphere as the storyteller gathers a few friends around a campfire.

— greg kot, chicagotribune.com, "Neko Case stomps the terra with the powerful ‘Hell-On’," 1 June 2018

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'eerie.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

Origin and Etymology of eerie

Middle English (northern dialect) eri

NEW! Time Traveler

First Known Use: 14th century

in the meaning defined at sense 2

See Words from the same year

eerie Synonyms

Synonyms

creepy, haunting, spooky, uncanny, unearthly, weird;

Near Antonyms

common, commonplace, everyday, normal, ordinary, prosaic, routine, typical, unexceptional, unremarkable, usual;

natural;

expected, familiar, predictable;

bizarre, curious, odd, outlandish, outré, peculiar, quaint, quirky;

unaccustomed, uncommon, unusual;

metaphysical, preternatural, supernatural;

enigmatic (also enigmatical), inscrutable, mysterious, puzzling;

Synonym Discussion of eerie

weird, eerie, uncanny mean mysteriously strange or fantastic. weird may imply an unearthly or supernatural strangeness or it may stress queerness or oddness.