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Meaning & use

spooky

adjective·Everydayinformal

Last updated

UK/ˈspuː.ki/
US/ˈspuː.ki/

Meanings

  1. adjectivecomparable

    Strange and a little frightening, as if ghosts or something supernatural might be near.

    Grammar: Used before a noun or after a verb: a spooky house, the forest felt spooky.

    Patterns

    • feel spooky
    • a spooky place

    The empty school felt spooky after dark.

    They told spooky stories around the campfire.

    A spooky fog covered the old cemetery.

  2. adjectivecomparableinformal

    Strangely accurate or coincidental in a way that makes you uneasy.

    Grammar: Often used about similarities or predictions: a spooky coincidence.

    Patterns

    • a spooky coincidence
    • spooky how something happens

    It was spooky how closely her dream matched what happened.

    The two paintings were spookily similar.

    He found it spooky that she knew his name.

Word forms

comparativespookier
superlativespookiest

Common combinations

spooky house
The kids dared each other to enter the spooky house.
spooky story
She read a spooky story aloud.
spooky atmosphere
The candles created a spooky atmosphere.
spooky coincidence
It was a spooky coincidence that we met again.
spooky sound
A spooky sound came from the attic.

Synonyms and how they differ

eerie
Eerie is more serious and literary, suggesting unsettling quiet or strangeness, while spooky is lighter and often playful.
creepy
Creepy suggests a skin-crawling unease, often about a person's behavior, not only places.
haunting
Haunting suggests something that lingers in the mind and may be beautiful or sad, not merely frightening.
uncanny
Uncanny suggests something strange because it is almost, but not quite, normal.

Opposites

cheerfulcomforting

Word family

spook noun
an informal word for a ghost
spook verb
to frighten or startle
spookily adverb
in an eerie way
spookiness noun
an eerie quality

Commonly confused: spooky or spooked?

spooky vs spooked

Spooked describes someone suddenly frightened, while spooky describes what causes a creepy feeling.

Practice

The old lighthouse looked ___ in the fog, and nobody wanted to go inside.

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