spooky

adjective

ˈspü-kē 

spookier; spookiest

1

: strange, unsettling, or frightening in a way that suggests or relates to the supernatural : eerie, uncanny

a spooky coincidence

[Caroline] Shaw's composition … is a mysterious and densely layered four-movement work … with vocalization and spookier in-between sounds that originate deep in the throat: moans, gasps, exhalations of breath.

—Gia Kourlas

Olivia Wilde's new film … owes a debt to many spooky dramas about the dark side of the suburbs—think The Stepford Wives, with even more of a sci-fi edge.

—David Sims

sometimes, specifically : relating to, resembling, or suggesting ghosts or spooks

a spooky old house

Spooky stories of Hawaiian night marchers (ghosts of warriors and chiefs) lurking around bushes and walking the trail are often told, but these haunted tales are not true, according to Lopaka Kapanui, a Native Hawaiian master storyteller …

—Christina Hitt

2

: nervous, skittish

a spooky horse

spookily

ˈspü-kə-lē 

adverb

spookiness

ˈspü-kē-nəs 

noun

Synonyms of spooky

• excitable
• nervous

Examples of spooky in a Sentence

The music was pretty spooky.

a spooky horse shying at shadows

Recent Examples on the Web

Ahead of Halloween, Cannon was already celebrating the spookiest holiday of the year. —Kayla Grant, PEOPLE, 3 Nov. 2025

Or, any other non-spooky board game would do. —Melissa Willets, Parents, 1 Nov. 2025

What’s spookier than Halloween this fall? —Clare Mulroy, USA Today, 31 Oct. 2025

Everything is spooky… a little spooky! —Noah Camras, MSNBC Newsweek, 31 Oct. 2025

Word History

First Known Use

1854, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Kids Definition

spooky

adjective

ˈspü-kē 

spookier; spookiest

1

: relating to, resembling, or suggesting ghosts

spooky houses

2

: skittish sense 2

a spooky horse

spookiness noun