Other Words for “Scary”

Frequently used synonyms for “Scary”.

• Frightening
• Creepy (informal)
• Shocking
• Chilling
• Alarming
• Hairy (Slang)
• Spooky (informal)
• Terrifying
• Horrifying
• Intimidating
• Horrendous
• Unnerving
• Fearsome
• Eerie
• Ghostly
• Bloodcurdling

A big list of 95+ words you can use instead of “scary”.

• Abominable
• Afraid
• Alarming
• Alarmingly
• Appalling
• Appallingly
• Awful
• Beastly
• Bloodcurdling
• Blood-curdling
• Chilling
• Creepy (informal)
• Cruel
• Dangerous
• Daunting
• Deathlike
• Detestable
• Direful
• Disgusting
• Dread
• Dreadful
• Eerie
• Execrable
• Fear
• Feared
• Fearful
• Fearsome
• Formidable
• Freaks
• Freaky
• Fright
• Frighten
• Frightened
• Frightening
• Frightens
• Frightful
• Ghastly
• Ghostlike
• Ghostly
• Ghoulish
• Grim
• Grisly
• Gross
• Gruesome
• Hair raising
• Hair-raising
• Hairy (slang)
• Haunted
• Hazardous
• Heinous
• Hideous
• Horrendous
• Horrible
• Horrid
• Horrific
• Horrifying
• Horror
• Intimidating
• Loathsome
• Lurid
• Macabre
• Monstrous
• Morbid
• Nasty
• Nerve-racking
• Nightmarish
• Obnoxious
• Ominous
• Perilous
• Petrifying
• Phantasmal
• Scandalous
• Scared
• Scaredy-cat
• Scarier
• Scarily
• Scaring
• Shivery
• Shocking
• Sinister
• Spectral
• Spine-chilling
• Spine-tingling
• Spooky (informal)
• Startled
• Startles
• Striking
• Terrible
• Terrified
• Terrifies
• Terrifying
• Terror
• Threatening
• Uncanny
• Unearthly
• Unnerving
• Wicked
• Worried
• Wraithlike

Scary Synonyms with Examples

Frightening

• Example: It’s frightening to think it could happen again.

Creepy (informal)

• Example: It’s kind of creepy down in the cellar!

Shocking

• Example: It is shocking that they involved children in the crime.

Chilling

• Example: The film evokes chilling reminders of the war.

Alarming

• Example: The rain-forests are disappearing at an alarming rate.

Hairy (Slang)

• Example: It was pretty hairy climbing down the cliff.

Spooky (informal)

• Example: It got a bit spooky when James started telling ghost stories.

Terrifying

• Example: It was a terrifying experience.

Horrifying

• Example: It’s horrifying to see such poverty.

Intimidating

• Example: The atmosphere was less intimidating than I had imagined.

Horrendous

• Example: The police officer said the attack was the most horrendous he had ever seen.

Unnerving

• Example: Even with a few days’ rehearsal, it was an unnerving experience.

Fearsome

• Example: He has a fearsome reputation as a fighter.

Eerie

• Example: I found the silence underwater really eerie.

Ghostly

• Example: There seemed to be a ghostly presence in the room.

Bloodcurdling

• Example: He let out a bloodcurdling scream.