scare
B1Neutral to informal (most common in everyday speech).
Definition
Meaning
To cause sudden fear or alarm in someone; to frighten.
A sudden state of fear or alarm; to become frightened. Also used as an adjective meaning 'intended to frighten' (e.g., scare tactics).
Linguistics
Semantic Notes
Often implies a temporary, sudden fright rather than deep, lasting terror. The verb can be transitive or intransitive.
Dialectal Variation
British vs American Usage
Differences
Minimal. 'Scare up' (meaning to find or gather with effort) is slightly more common in AmE. 'Scare quote' is a shared academic/linguistic term.
Connotations
Identical.
Frequency
Equally common in both varieties.
Vocabulary
Collocations
Grammar
Valency Patterns
[VN] (transitive) – e.g., The noise scared me.[V] (intransitive) – e.g., She scares easily.[V-ADJ] – e.g., He was scared stiff.[VN-ADJ] – e.g., It scared him speechless.[V N away/off] – e.g., The dog scared the burglar away.Vocabulary
Synonyms
Strong
Neutral
Weak
Vocabulary
Antonyms
Phrases
Idioms & Phrases
- “scare the living daylights out of someone”
- “scare someone out of their wits”
- “scare someone stiff”
- “scare up (something)”
- “a scare a minute”
Usage
Context Usage
Business
Often negative: 'The report scared investors, causing a sell-off.'
Academic
Used in psychology (e.g., 'fear conditioning'), media studies (e.g., 'scare headlines'), or public health (e.g., 'a health scare').
Everyday
Most common: 'Don't sneak up on me, you scared me!' or 'I had a bit of a scare when the test results came back.'
Technical
In aviation/defense: 'false scare', 'radar scare'.
Examples
By Part of Speech
verb
British English
- That loud bang scared me half to death.
- The rumours about layoffs are scaring the staff.
- She doesn't scare easily, you know.
American English
- The movie trailer scared my little sister.
- We need to scare up some volunteers for the fundraiser.
- High prices are scaring away potential buyers.
adverb
British English
- (No common adverbial form. 'Scarily' is derived from 'scary', not 'scare'.)
American English
- (No common adverbial form. 'Scarily' is derived from 'scary', not 'scare'.)
adjective
British English
- It was just a scare story in the tabloids.
- They used scare tactics during the election campaign.
American English
- The article was full of scare headlines.
- He's known for his scare-mongering speeches.
Examples
By CEFR Level
- The dog scared the cat.
- I had a scare when I lost my keys.
- Are you scared of spiders?
- The sudden noise gave me a real scare.
- Don't let the difficulty scare you; you can do it.
- He tried to scare us with ghost stories.
- The government's warning caused a major health scare.
- Investors were scared off by the market's volatility.
- She scared the living daylights out of me by jumping out from behind the door.
- The novel's protagonist is a man scared into action by events beyond his control.
- Politicians often exploit public scares to push through legislation.
- The incident, while ultimately harmless, succeeded in scaring the populace witless.
Learning
Memory Aids
Mnemonic
Imagine a SCAREcrow – its job is to SCARE crows away.
Conceptual Metaphor
FEAR IS A SUDDEN PHYSICAL IMPACT/SHOCK (e.g., 'It gave me a jolt', 'scared stiff').
Watch out
Common Pitfalls
Translation Traps (for Russian speakers)
- Avoid over-translating as 'пугать' for weak instances; 'spook' or 'startle' might be more accurate for a mild scare.
- The noun 'scare' often maps to 'испуг' or 'паника', not 'страх' (which is more general).
- Confusing 'scared' (adj.) with 'scary' (adj.). 'Scared' describes the person feeling fear; 'scary' describes the thing causing it.
Common Mistakes
- Incorrect: 'I am very scare.' Correct: 'I am very scared / I scare easily.'
- Incorrect: 'That film is scared.' Correct: 'That film is scary.'
- Incorrect: 'It scares to me.' Correct: 'It scares me.'
Practice
Quiz
Which of the following is NOT a common collocation with 'scare'?
FAQ
Frequently Asked Questions
'Scare' is common and neutral/informal, often for a sudden, brief shock. 'Frighten' is similar but can be slightly more formal or lasting. 'Terrify' is the strongest, implying overwhelming, extreme fear.
It is used frequently as both. As a verb ('You scared me!') and as a noun ('I had a scare'). Both uses are core and equally important.
Not directly. The adjective form for the feeling is 'scared'. 'Scare' can be used attributively in fixed compounds like 'scare story', 'scare tactics', where it means 'intended to cause fright'.
It's an informal expression (more AmE) meaning to find, gather, or produce something with some effort, especially from limited resources (e.g., 'I'll try to scare up some lunch for us').