Scaring

Part of speech: verb

Pronunciation: /ˈskɛː.ɹɪŋ/

Definitions

1. The act of inducing intense fear or anxiety in living beings or the process of provoking terror in situations or circumstances
2. The occurrence of causing emotional distress through fear or the action of creating alarm in individuals or inanimate objects
3. The process of making someone feel afraid or uneasy

Etymology: "Scaring" is simply the -ing form of "scare," so its story is really the story of the verb. "Scare" came into Middle English from Old Norse "skirra," meaning "to frighten," but also "to shrink away from" or "to shun," a sense that hints at what the fear actually looks like: flinching, backing off. That Old Norse word traces back to a Proto-Germanic verb meaning "to shoo, scare off," which is how animals were driven away. The deeper roots are more playful. The Proto-Indo-European base *(s)ker- meant "to swing, jump, move," and the same root may lie behind Ancient Greek "skairō," "to frolic." The idea seems to be restless, sudden movement, the sort that startles a creature into bolting. Frightening someone, in other words, was originally about making them jump.

Synonyms: frightening, spooking, terrifying

Antonyms: calming, reassuring