scare
/skɛɚ/noun, verb, adjective
scare is spelled S-C-A-R-E: 5 letters and one syllable. It appears 12 times per million words in written English, the 6,347th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). People search “scar vs scare” about 10 times a month (Bing, United States). As a noun, scare means “A minor fright” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). The plural of scare is scares.
How many letters and syllables are in scare?
| Letters | 5: S-C-A-R-E |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 1 (from its American pronunciation) |
| In writing | 12 times per million words; the 6,347th most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | none measured in search |
| Pairs people search | |
| Rhymes with | |
| Same letters |
Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation and the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media); Bing searches in the United States: the average month from September 2025 to August 2026 (Microsoft Advertising keyword data through DataForSEO, read September 30, 2026); rhymes and same-letter words are computed by PlainSpell from its own word list.
How common is scare?
Scare appears 12 times per million words in written English, the 6,347th most frequent word form in the list.
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How do you pronounce scare?
- UK /skɛə/
- US /skɛɚ/
- /skɪə(ɹ)/
Scare has one syllable (counted from its American pronunciation in the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary).
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: En-us-scare.ogg, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
Words people confuse with scare
Word pairs people search, with the monthly searches for “a vs b” (G: Google, B: Bing, United States).
Sources: Google and Bing searches (September 2025 to August 2026, through DataForSEO); English Wiktionary (homophones, alternative spellings).
What rhymes with scare?
The 12 most written words on PlainSpell end in the same sounds as scare from its last stressed vowel (/ɛəɹ/):
Spelled with the same letters in another order: sacre, carse, serac.
Computed by PlainSpell from the pronunciations in the English Wiktionary (dump of September 2, 2026): a rhyme shares every sound from the last stressed vowel to the end; ordered by written frequency (wordfreq 3.1).
Forms of scare
- scares plural, present, singular, he/she/it
- scaring participle, present
- scared participle, past
- more scare comparative
- most scare superlative
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does scare mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
noun
- 1
A minor fright.
Johnny had a bad scare last night.
- 2
A cause of terror or alarm; a panic; something that inspires fear or dread.
a food-poisoning scare
- 3
A device or object used to frighten.
verb
- 1
To frighten, terrify, startle, especially in a minor way.
Did it scare you when I said "Boo!"?
- 2
(To be able) to be scared.
I don't scare easily.
adjective
- 1
lean; scanty
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Scare in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
| Language | Words |
|---|---|
| French | peur , effrayer |
| German | Schreck , erschrecken, beängstigen, ängstigen |
| Portuguese | susto , assustar |
| Spanish | susto , asustar, atemorizar, espantar, amedrentar, amedrantar |
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Translations are Wiktionary's, by sense; a linked word has its own PlainSpell page.
Where does scare come from?
From Middle English sker, skere (“terror, fright”), from the verb Middle English skerren (“to frighten”) (see below).
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).