spooky

spooky — adjective

1. If a place, situation, sound, or story is spooky, it makes you feel frightened a

1.adjectiveB1
Definition

If a place, situation, sound, or story is spooky, it makes you feel frightened and unsettled at the same time — as if something strange, ghostly, or impossible to explain is nearby.

Example

The stone house on Cedar Lane looked spooky with dark windows and a broken gate.

collocation: spooky house / spooky place

Talia's brother refused to sleep alone after a spooky story about a ghost in the closet.

collocation: spooky story

Common collocations
  • spooky house
  • spooky story
  • spooky feeling
  • spooky atmosphere
  • spooky music
  • spooky silence
  • look spooky
  • feel spooky
Synonyms
  • creepy

    more informal, suggests a crawling unease on the skin

  • eerie

    more literary, emphasises a strange quietness or emptiness

  • scary

    broader meaning, does not carry the supernatural tone

Antonyms

Usage Note

Common in informal conversation. Often describes places (old houses, dark forests), sounds, or stories connected to the supernatural or the unknown, rather than ordinary danger like a fast car or a steep drop.

Common Mistakes

The roller coaster was spooky.
The roller coaster was scary.
spooky is about eerie, supernatural kinds of fear, not thrilling danger.

2. (of a horse or other animal) likely to become suddenly frightened and react wild

2.adjectiveB2
Definition

(of a horse or other animal) likely to become suddenly frightened and react wildly because of unexpected noises, movements, or sights that most animals ignore.

Example

The grey mare is spooky — she bolts whenever a tractor rattles past the fence.

specialised use: horses, trigger + reaction

Yumi's pony is too spooky for children; a bird taking flight makes it jump sideways.

structure: too [adj] for [noun phrase]

Common collocations
  • spooky horse
  • spooky mare
  • too spooky for
  • get spooky
Synonyms
  • skittish

    the most common synonym for horses; spooky is less formal

  • nervous

    broader, applies to people and animals equally

  • jumpy

    informal, suggests sudden physical reactions

Antonyms
  • calm

    steady and relaxed

  • steady

    not easily upset or surprised

Usage Note

Applied mainly to horses and some other animals (dogs, livestock). Used of a person only in a joking or affectionate way: 'Don't be so spooky — it was just the wind.'

Common Mistakes

The child was too spooky to walk to school alone.
The child was too frightened to walk to school alone.
spooky meaning 'easily frightened' is mainly for animals, not people.

Word family

  • spook
    nounB2
  • spook
    verbB2
  • spooked
    adjectiveB1
  • spookiness
    nounC1

Synonym discussion

Sense: adjective/1

Spooky, creepy, eerie, scary, and uncanny all describe things that cause fear, but they differ in tone and context. Spooky is informal and carries a playful, supernatural feeling — like a haunted house at Halloween. Creepy is also informal but suggests a slow, crawling unease, often caused by a person or a situation that feels wrong (e.g., a stranger watching you). Eerie is more literary and describes an unsettling quietness or emptiness — a silent forest or an abandoned village. Scary is the broadest word, covering everything from horror films to roller coasters, without any supernatural hint. Uncanny is the most intellectual; it means something is so strange that it feels unnatural or beyond explanation. For a ghost story, both spooky and creepy work, but spooky is friendlier; for describing a weird coincidence, uncanny is the better choice.

spooky ↗creepy ↗eeriescary ↗uncanny

Common collocations

Adverbs

  • a bit spooky
  • really spooky
  • quite spooky
  • kind of spooky
  • very spooky

Phrases

  • spooky season (Halloween)
  • get spooky
  • spooky action

Etymology

DutchEnglish

Comes from the noun 'spook' (a ghost or specter), which entered English in the early 1800s from Dutch 'spook'. The '-y' suffix turned it into an adjective around the 1850s, meaning 'like a ghost, eerie'. By the 1880s, American English speakers were also using spooky for horses that startled easily, comparing their sudden panicked reactions to being 'spooked' by a ghost.