Scarey or scary?
scarey is an adjective meaning “Dated form of scary”; scary is an adjective meaning “Causing fear or anxiety”. In written English (wordfreq, 2021 data) scary is about 661 times as common as scarey.
What is the difference between scarey and scary?
| scarey | scary | |
|---|---|---|
| Part of speech | adjective | adjective, adverb, noun |
| Meaning | informalCausing fear or anxiety informalUncannily striking or surprising informalTo a scary extent; scarily | |
| Example | none recorded | The tiger's jaws were scary |
| Forms | none | scarier, scariest |
| Pronunciation | not recorded | /ˈskɛə.ɹi/ /ˈskɛː.ɹi/ |
| In writing | about once in every 28 million words | 23 times per million words |
Sources: scarey and scary 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 scarey and scary
scarey
- 1
datedDated form of scary
scary
- 1
informalCausing fear or anxiety
The tiger's jaws were scary
- 2
informalTo a scary extent; scarily
- 3
Barren land having only a thin coat of grass
- 4
informalUncannily striking or surprising
Linda changed her hair, and it’s scary how much she looks like her mother
- 5
UScolloquialSubject to sudden alarm; easily frightened
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, scarey or scary?
scarey appears about once in every 28 million words; scary 23 times per million words.
scarey about once in every 28 million wordsscary 23 times per million words
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).