scare

1 of 2

verb

scared; scaring

transitive verb

: to frighten especially suddenly : alarm
scarer noun

scare

2 of 2

noun

1
: a sudden fright
2
: a widespread state of alarm : panic
scare adjective

Examples of scare in a Sentence

Verb You scared me. I didn't see you there. Stop that, you're scaring the children. Noun There have been scares about the water supply being contaminated. fired over their heads in order to throw a scare into them
Recent Examples on the Web
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Verb
However, the stories about Porter from Cleveland and Houston may scare enough other teams that Milwaukee can keep him at that price. 7. John Hollinger, New York Times, 17 June 2025 Without it, regulation-heavy environments like Spain (which recently introduced strict labeling laws for AI content) will scare away the next generation of founders. 3. Lutz Finger, Forbes.com, 16 June 2025
Noun
Hot on the heels of a June 10 urgent Google Chrome browser security update, just a week later, the technology behemoth has confirmed yet another security scare that requires users of the world’s most popular web browser across all platforms with the exception of iOS to update now. Davey Winder, Forbes.com, 19 June 2025 Barby’s road to tryouts in 2024 was made even more complicated by a shocking health scare. Stephanie McNeal, Glamour, 18 June 2025 See All Example Sentences for scare

Word History

Etymology

Verb

Middle English skerren, from Old Norse skirra, from skjarr shy, timid

First Known Use

Verb

13th century, in the meaning defined at transitive sense

Noun

circa 1548, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Time Traveler
The first known use of scare was in the 13th century

Cite this Entry

“Scare.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/scare. Accessed 28 Jun. 2025.

Kids Definition

scare

1 of 2 verb
ˈske(ə)r How to pronounce scare (audio)
ˈska(ə)r
scared; scaring
1
: to frighten suddenly : alarm
2
: to become scared

scare

2 of 2 noun
1
: a sudden fright
2
: a widespread state of alarm : panic

More from Merriam-Webster on scare

Last Updated: - Updated example sentences
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