eerie
/ˈɪəri/ (bre, ipa) · [ˈɪri] /ˈɪri/ (ame, ipa) · [ˈɪri] /ˈir-ē How to pronounce eerie (audio)/ (ame, mw)
eerie — adjective
- eeriepositive
- more eeriecomparative
- most eeriesuperlative
1. describes a place, sound, atmosphere, or experience that feels unnaturally quiet
describes a place, sound, atmosphere, or experience that feels unnaturally quiet, strange, or unsettling, in a way that makes you a little afraid because you cannot quite explain it
Naoko walked through the abandoned hospital and felt an eerie silence in every corridor.
common collocation: eerie silence
An eerie blue light glowed from the old well behind Christopher's grandmother's farmhouse.
attributive use: eerie + noun (light / glow)
Bilal heard an eerie laugh coming from the empty classroom on the third floor.
There was something eerie about the way the dolls in Yasmin's attic all faced the same window.
The forest grew eerie as the fog thickened around the hikers near dusk.
- creepy
more informal; often used of people or places that make you uncomfortable
- spooky
informal; lighter and often playful, suitable for Halloween or ghost stories
- uncanny
emphasises that something is strangely familiar yet wrong, rather than just frightening
- haunting
stays in your memory after; often used of music, images, or memories rather than live scenes
- ordinary
an ordinary scene has nothing strange or unsettling about it
- reassuring
a reassuring atmosphere makes you feel calm and safe, the opposite of eerie
用法筆記
Frequently modifies nouns of sound, light, silence, atmosphere, or feeling (eerie silence, eerie glow, eerie calm, eerie resemblance). Often appears with linking verbs (was, felt, seemed, grew) when describing a whole scene rather than a single object.