# creepypasta

> English word · Noun · IPA /ˈkɹiːpiˌpæstə/ · frequency rank #82,199

## Definitions
1. Frightening urban legends and short stories in the horror genre, circulated on the Internet.

## Etymology
Blend of creepy + copypasta. Originated from 4chan’s /x/ (paranormal) board sometime around 2006.
Etymology tree
Proto-Indo-European *grewbʰ-der.
Proto-Germanic *kreupaną
Proto-West Germanic *kreupan
Old English crēopan
Middle English crepen
English creep
Proto-Indo-European *-kos
Proto-Germanic *-gaz
Proto-West Germanic *-g
Old English -iġ
Middle English -y
English -y
English creepy
Latin cōps
Proto-Indo-European *-yós
Proto-Italic *-ios
Old Latin -ios
Latin -ius
Latin -ia
Latin cōpia
Proto-Indo-European *-h₂
Proto-Indo-European *-éh₂
Proto-Indo-European *-yéti
Proto-Indo-European *-eh₂yéti
Proto-Italic *-āō
Latin -ō
Latin cōpiō
Old French copierbor.
Middle English copien
English copy
Proto-Indo-European *(s)kweh₁t-der.
Ancient Greek πάσσω (pássō)
Proto-Indo-European *-tós
Ancient Greek -τός (-tós)
Ancient Greek παστός (pastós)
Ancient Greek παστά (pastá)bor.
Late Latin pasta
Old French pastebor.
Middle English paste
English paste
English copy-paste
▲
Late Latin pasta
Italian pastabor.
English pasta
blend
English copypasta
English creepypasta

## Source
Compiled from Wiktionary via kaikki.org (CC BY-SA). Data vintage: 2026-05-06.
Canonical page: https://plainspell.com/en/word/creepypasta