uncanny, so as to inspire superstitious fear; weird: an eerie midnight howl.
Chiefly Scot.affected with superstitious fear.
Origin of eerie
First recorded in 1250–1300; Middle English eri, dialectal variant of argh, Old English earg “cowardly”; cognate with Old Frisian erg, Old Norse argr “evil,” German arg “cowardly”
The next day was beautiful, made eerie by the absence of the activity that usually pervades the first day of school in any city.
The Students Left Behind by Remote Learning|by Alec MacGillis|September 28, 2020|ProPublica
It’s an odd concept, but in Schweblin’s hands, it works, and the result is an eerie, fascinating meditation on privacy, surveillance, and performance.
Everything Our Editors Loved in August|The Editors|September 10, 2020|Outside Online
Yet our first step was taken even earlier, revealed by an eerie homage to the underworld buried within the foothills of Turkey’s Taurus Mountains.
An Ancient Site with Human Skulls on Display - Issue 89: The Dark Side|Jo Marchant|September 2, 2020|Nautilus
Wasow’s core insight — that faced with at times violent civil rights protests, Nixon managed to ride a focus on “law-and-order” to victory — also has eerie relevance today.
Violent protests against police brutality in the ’60s and ’90s changed public opinion|German Lopez|August 28, 2020|Vox
Yet the eerie echoing of the earlier faux interview in another major media outlet was unsettling for jazz lovers.
What’s With This Uncool Surge in Jazz Bashing?|Ted Gioia|November 2, 2014|DAILY BEAST
An examination of the eerie similarities between Litchfield Prison and Agrestic.
Orange Is the New Weeds: The Adventures of Jenji Kohan Across the 8th Dimension|Rich Goldstein, Emily Shire|August 18, 2014|DAILY BEAST
Plus wearing gowns, gloves, goggles and masks imparts an eerie moonwalk sensation as one enters the facility.
Caring for Ebola Patients Deeply Scary For Health Care Workers|Kent Sepkowitz|August 2, 2014|DAILY BEAST
The music is eerie and disturbing, and it is easy to imagine how revolutionary it sounded in 1983.
Punks, UFOs, and Heroin: How ‘Liquid Sky’ Became a Cult Movie|Daniel Genis|June 2, 2014|DAILY BEAST
This, it should be said, bears an eerie similarity to the targeted, predatory lending of the last decade.
How We Built the Ghettos|Jamelle Bouie|March 13, 2014|DAILY BEAST
I have loitered on Waterloo Bridge to gaze on the magic of the river and listen to the eerie music of Time's roaring loom.
The Haunts of Old Cockaigne|Alex Thompson
A night attack was evidently under way, and it is always an eerie sensation.
War in the Garden of Eden|Kermit Roosevelt
The old Major called back to me; his voice seemed detached, eerie with the thin laugh in it.
The Sleuth of St. James's Square|Melville Davisson Post
Only Aghadoe Abbey was eerie at night, especially in winter storms, since my cousin Theobald went away.
The Story of Bawn|Katharine Tynan
The line went quiet, the eerie silence of a net-connection with no packets routing on it.
Makers|Cory Doctorow
British Dictionary definitions for eerie
eerie
/ (ˈɪərɪ) /
adjectiveeerieroreeriest
(esp of places, an atmosphere, etc) mysteriously or uncannily frightening or disturbing; weird; ghostly
Derived forms of eerie
eerily, adverbeeriness, noun
Word Origin for eerie
C13: originally Scottish and Northern English, probably from Old English earg cowardly, miserable