eerieee‧rie /ˈɪəri $ ˈɪri/ adjective 
Word Origin
the eerie sound of an owl hooting at night► see thesaurus at frightening—eerily adverb
Word OriginWORD ORIGINeerie
ExamplesOrigin:
1200-1300 Old English earg ‘not brave, full of fear’EXAMPLES FROM OTHER DICTIONARIES
Thesaurus- An eerie howl filled the cave.
- I had the eerie feeling that somebody was watching me.
- The pumps were shut off now. It was eerie, being in the factory without their sound.
- The wind made an eerie sound outside.
- Flying this kite among the otherwise conventional swept wings on a breezy day was initially eerie.
- I looked at the bleak, eerie landscape nearing us, so utterly different from the comfortable London world of human construction.
- Overhead, a bulb casts an eerie bluish light.
- The approach was eerie because I did it without lights.
- The corridors took on an eerie silence.
- The most impressive thing about the storm was its eerie quiet.
- The voice had an eerie metallic ring to it.
- There was everywhere an eerie atmosphere of impending battle.
THESAURUS► frightening
Collocations making you feel frightened: · Being held at gunpoint had been the most frightening moment of his life.· The experience was very frightening.
► scary especially spoken frightening. Scary is less formal than frightening and is very common in everyday English: · The movie was really scary.· There were some scary moments.
► chilling frightening, especially because violence, cruelty, or danger is involved: · a chilling tale of revenge, murder and madness· The court heard chilling details about the attack.
► spooky frightening and strange, especially because something involves ghosts or powers that people do not understand: · The forest is really spooky in the dark.· a spooky coincidence· spooky stories
► creepy informal frightening in a way that makes you feel nervous, especially when you are not sure exactly why – used especially about places, people, and feelings: · This place is really creepy. Let’s get out of here.· a creepy guy· Do you know that creepy feeling when you're sure someone’s there but you can’t see or hear anything?
► eerie especially literary strange and frightening: · There was an eerie silence immediately after the bomb went off.· an eerie light· an eerie feeling
► intimidating making you feel frightened, nervous, or lacking in confidence: · Big schools can be an intimidating place for young children.· Giving evidence in court is often a rather intimidating experience.· the intimidating presence of a large number of soldiers
► menacing frightening because you think someone is going to hurt you, even though they have not said or done anything violent – used especially about someone’s expression or voice: · The woman had a very menacing look.· ‘I’d like to have a word with you outside,’ he said in a menacing tone.
Longman Language Activatorstrange situations, experiences, smells, tastes etc► strange very different from what you expect or from what usually happens, in a way that makes you feel a little frightened or surprised: · A strange noise woke her up.· I had a strange feeling that I'd been there before.· Amanda's eyes glowed in a strange way, like a cat's.· He seemed to know lots of things about me, but the strange thing is I didn't even tell him my name.it is strange that: · It's strange that you've never met him - he lives in your street.
► funny also odd especially British something funny or odd is a little strange and it makes you feel slightly worried or surprised because you cannot explain it or you do not know what it is: · There's a funny smell coming from the fridge.· Thumps and laughter and odd noises were coming out of the living room.it is funny/odd that: · It seems odd that no one noticed him coming in.· It's funny that he managed to hit the ball because he never hits it in practice.that's funny/that's odd spoken: · "Your keys aren't here." "That's funny - I'm sure I left them on the table."
► peculiar strange and slightly unpleasant: · This meat tastes peculiar.· I've been having very peculiar dreams the past few weeks.· I heard a peculiar warbling from the living room.
► mysterious use this about something that people know very little about and that is difficult to explain or understand: · No one could offer an explanation for his mysterious disappearance.· I kept getting mysterious phone calls where the caller would hang up as soon as I answered.under mysterious circumstances: · Two weeks later, the shop burned to the ground under mysterious circumstances.
► weird a weird experience, feeling, sight, or sound is strange and very different from what you are used to: · She only had lipstick on her bottom lip which looked pretty weird.· It's a weird feeling to go back to a place that you lived in a long time ago.
► bizarre extremely strange, and very different from what is generally considered to be normal, especially in a frightening or slightly worrying way: · Woods disappeared in very bizarre circumstances, and no trace of him has ever been found.· It was bizarre - if we took longer than five minutes in the bathroom, we had to explain why to our manager.
► eerie strange and frightening: · An eerie howl filled the cave.· I had the eerie feeling that somebody was watching me.· The pumps were shut off now. It was eerie, being in the factory without their sound.
► surreal extremely strange, because nothing seems connected with real life or normal experiences, and things happen or appear together that do not belong together: · Living on the commune turned out to be a surreal experience.· The whole trial and the media circus surrounding it was surreal.
► curious strange and surprising but interesting, so that you want to know more about it: · Life in the village was a curious combination of the old and the very new.· He had come to some curious arrangement with his landlady.
► ironic an ironic situation seems strange and amusing, because something happens that you would not expect at all: · Her car was stolen from outside the police station, which is pretty ironic.· One of the study's ironic discoveries is that TV trials educate the public about the justice system better than actual trials.it is ironic that: · It's ironic that professional athletes are often such unhealthy people.
COLLOCATIONS FROM OTHER ENTRIES► an eerie silence
strange and frightening: (=one that is strange and rather frightening)· An eerie silence descended over the house.
COLLOCATIONS FROM THE CORPUSADVERB► almost· It is usually accompanied by a clarity of distant visibility which is almost eerie at times.· The relative calm before this convention is almost eerie.· The Range Rover's lights swept into view, illuminating the torrents of rain, the unusually dark, almost eerie gloom.· It seems almost eerie that something so stunning can be so silent.· The absence of negative reaction was almost eerie.· Eventually I got up and put more wood in the stove, noting an almost eerie blue moonlight outside.
NOUN► silence· Tallis suddenly understood the eerie silence among the clan.· It was in 1933 when the explosive din suddenly stopped and an eerie silence descended on Boulder Canyon.· The corridors took on an eerie silence.· But when bills are introduced in Congress to help curb the epidemic of corporate crime, there is an eerie silence.· Midnight on Wednesday, 17 July 1918, and an eerie silence fell over no-man's-land.
the eerie sound of an owl hooting at night► see thesaurus at frightening—eerily adverb