as in frightens
to strike with fear
thunderstorms have always scared her
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Recent Examples of scares
What scares those in the world of pediatrics, though, is imagining how the new schedule could play out over time.
—
Isabella Cueto, STAT, 6 Jan. 2026
What's the thing that scares me the most?
—NBC news, 28 Dec. 2025
The Krampus scares children, to remind them of the wages of naughtiness.
—Veronique Greenwood, Time, 21 Dec. 2025
And if the role scares you a little and excites you a lot?
—Johnny C. Taylor Jr, USA Today, 16 Dec. 2025
The incident comes amid a turbulent year for air travel, marked by high-profile safety scares including runway incursions, severe turbulence injuries, and the government shutdown worsening mounting strain on aviation systems during peak travel periods.
—Alaa Elassar, CNN Money, 13 Dec. 2025
Santa handles the nice list, but his counterpart, Krampus, scares naughty children into behaving.
—Brittney Melton, NPR, 10 Dec. 2025
Regulatory uncertainty also scares off foreign investors.
—Caio Delcolli, IndieWire, 26 Nov. 2025
All of this scares me, interests me, obsesses me.
—Literary Hub, 13 Nov. 2025
Isabella Cueto, STAT, 6 Jan. 2026
What's the thing that scares me the most?
—NBC news, 28 Dec. 2025
The Krampus scares children, to remind them of the wages of naughtiness.
—Veronique Greenwood, Time, 21 Dec. 2025
And if the role scares you a little and excites you a lot?
—Johnny C. Taylor Jr, USA Today, 16 Dec. 2025
The incident comes amid a turbulent year for air travel, marked by high-profile safety scares including runway incursions, severe turbulence injuries, and the government shutdown worsening mounting strain on aviation systems during peak travel periods.
—Alaa Elassar, CNN Money, 13 Dec. 2025
Santa handles the nice list, but his counterpart, Krampus, scares naughty children into behaving.
—Brittney Melton, NPR, 10 Dec. 2025
Regulatory uncertainty also scares off foreign investors.
—Caio Delcolli, IndieWire, 26 Nov. 2025
All of this scares me, interests me, obsesses me.
—Literary Hub, 13 Nov. 2025
Recent Examples of Synonyms for scares
Verb
-
Baker says what frightens her most is whether younger generations will ever be able to step off that wheel — to build generational wealth through homeownership.—
Elizabeth Prann,
The Hill,
10 Nov. 2025
-
Within my book, one of the things that frightens me most is the fact that with censorship, there’s often not a clear red line, right?—
Fiction Non Fiction
October 2,
Literary Hub,
2 Oct. 2025
Verb
-
That terrifies me to try to adapt something.—
Mike Fleming Jr,
Deadline,
17 Nov. 2025
-
When scientists are asked which potential climate impact terrifies them most, the collapse of the AMOC is often top of the list.—
Laura Paddison,
CNN Money,
15 Nov. 2025
Verb
-
As the dolphin gets closer to the glass, the Chihuahua lets out a bark that startles the dolphin, who then starts mimicking the dog's mouth movements in a sort of chasing game across species.—
Maria Azzurra Volpe,
MSNBC Newsweek,
18 Aug. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Scares.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/scares. Accessed 19 Jan. 2026.
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