spookier; spookiest
1
: strange, unsettling, or frightening in a way that suggests or relates to the supernatural : eerie, uncanny
a spooky coincidence
[Caroline] Shaw's composition … is a mysterious and densely layered four-movement work … with vocalization and spookier in-between sounds that originate deep in the throat: moans, gasps, exhalations of breath.—Gia Kourlas
Olivia Wilde's new film … owes a debt to many spooky dramas about the dark side of the suburbs—think The Stepford Wives, with even more of a sci-fi edge.—David Sims
sometimes, specifically
: relating to, resembling, or suggesting ghosts or spooks
a spooky old house
Spooky stories of Hawaiian night marchers (ghosts of warriors and chiefs) lurking around bushes and walking the trail are often told, but these haunted tales are not true, according to Lopaka Kapanui, a Native Hawaiian master storyteller … —Christina Hitt
Cite this Entry
“Spooky.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/spooky. Accessed 7 Jul. 2026.
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