Eerie or eyrie?
eerie is an adjective meaning “Inspiring fear, especially in a mysterious or shadowy way; strange, weird”; eyrie is a noun meaning “The nest of a bird of prey”. Use eerie as an adjective and eyrie as a noun (eerie is also a noun: “An eerie creature or thing”). They sound the same (/ˈɪəɹi/). In written English (wordfreq, 2021 data) eerie is about 12 times as common as eyrie.
What is the difference between eerie and eyrie?
| eerie | eyrie | |
|---|---|---|
| Part of speech | adjective, noun | noun |
| Meaning | Inspiring fear, especially in a mysterious or shadowy way; strange, weird ScotlandFrightened, timid An eerie creature or thing | UKThe nest of a bird of prey UKAny high and remote but commanding place |
| Example | The eerie sounds seemed to come from the graveyard after midnight | none recorded |
| Forms | eerier, eeriest | eyries |
| Pronunciation | /ˈɪəɹi/ /ˈɪːɹɪj/ /ˈɪɹi/ | /ˈɪə.ɹi/ /ˈaɪ.ɹi/ /ˈɛː.ɹi/ |
| In writing | 2.1 times per million words | about once in every 6 million words |
Sources: eerie and eyrie in the English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0); written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
Every current meaning of eerie and eyrie
eerie
- 1
Inspiring fear, especially in a mysterious or shadowy way; strange, weird
The eerie sounds seemed to come from the graveyard after midnight
- 2
An eerie creature or thing
- 3
Alternative spelling of eyrie
- 4
ScotlandFrightened, timid
eyrie
- 1
UKThe nest of a bird of prey
- 2
UKAny high and remote but commanding place
Source: the English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0); obsolete, archaic, dialect and rare senses left out.
Which is more common, eerie or eyrie?
eerie appears 2.1 times per million words; eyrie about once in every 6 million words.
eerie 2.1 times per million wordseyrie about once in every 6 million words
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).