different between macabre vs scary

English

Etymology

Borrowed from French macabre, whose etymology is uncertain, but possibly derives from the term danse macabre – the attribute of which was construed as an adjective – most commonly believed to be from corruption of the biblical name Maccabees; compare Latin Chorea Machabaeorum.

Another theory derives the term from Spanish macabro, from Arabic ????????? (maq?bir, “cemeteries”), plural of ?????????? (maqbara) or ?????????? (maqbura). Borrowing Arabic in plural form is not unusual: a similar case is the word magazine, derived from the plural ????? max?zin of the Arabic singular noun ???? maxzan "storehouse/depot/shop".

Pronunciation

• (UK) IPA^(key): /m??k??b??/, /m??k??b?(?)/
• (US) IPA^(key): /m??k?b/, /m??k?b??/, /m??k?b?/
• Homophone: McCobb

Adjective

macabre (comparative more macabre, superlative most macabre)

1. Representing or personifying death.
   • 1941, George C. Booth, Mexico's School-made Society, page 106

     There are four fundamental figures. One is a man measuring and comparing his world […] In front of him is a macabre figure, a cadaver ready to be dissected. This symbolizes man serving mankind. The third figure is the scientist, the man who makes use of the information gathered in the first two fields of mensurable science.

2. Obsessed with death or the gruesome.
   • 1993, Theodore Ziolkowski, "Wagner's Parsifal between Mystery and Mummery", in Werner Sollors (ed.), The Return of Thematic Criticism, pages 274-275

     Indeed, in the 1854 draft of Tristan he planned to have Parzival visit the dying knight, and both operas display the same macabre obsession with bloody gore and festering wounds.

3. Ghastly, shocking, terrifying.
   • 1927 [1938], H. P. Lovecraft, Supernatural Horror in Literature, Introduction

     The appeal of the spectrally macabre is generally narrow because it demands from the reader a certain degree of imagination and a capacity for detachment from every-day life.

   Synonyms: ghastly, horrifying, shocking, terrifying

Derived terms

• danse macabre

Translations

See also

• Danse Macabre on Wikipedia.Wikipedia

References

Anagrams

• carbeam

Catalan

Etymology

From French macabre

Adjective

macabre (feminine macabra, masculine and feminine plural macabres)

1. macabre

French

Etymology

From Danse Macabre (“dance of death”), from Old French, usually said to be from Macabé (“Maccabee”), in reference to a mystery play depicting their slaughter. See Maccabee.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ma.kab?/

Adjective

macabre (plural macabres)

1. macabre

Synonyms

• lugubre

Derived terms

• danse macabre

Further reading

• “macabre” in Trésor de la langue française informatisé (The Digitized Treasury of the French Language).

References

Italian

Adjective

macabre

1. feminine plural of macabro

Romanian

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [ma?ka.bre]

Adjective

macabre

1. nominative feminine plural of macabru
2. accusative feminine plural of macabru
3. nominative neuter plural of macabru
4. accusative neuter plural of macabru

English

Alternative forms

• scarey (dated)

Etymology 1

scare +? -y

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation) enPR: skâr'? IPA^(key): /?sk???i/
• (General American) IPA^(key): /?sk???i/, /?sk??i/
  • Homophone: skerry (in accents with the Mary-marry-merry merger)

Adjective

scary (comparative scarier, superlative scariest)

1. (now chiefly informal) Causing fear or anxiety

   Synonyms: frightening, hair-raising, petrifying, terrifying; see also Thesaurus:frightening

   The tiger's jaws were scary.

   She was hiding behind her pillow during the scary parts of the film.

   • 1884, Mark Twain, The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, Chapter 29,^[1]

     Well, we swarmed along down the river road, just carrying on like wildcats; and to make it more scary the sky was darking up, and the lightning beginning to wink and flitter, and the wind to shiver amongst the leaves.

   • 1982, Anne Tyler, Dinner at the Homesick Restaurant, New York: Ivy Books, 1992, Chapter 2, p. 70,^[2]

     “ […] How scary it is to know that everyone I love depends on me! I’m afraid I’ll do something wrong.”

2. (informal) Uncannily striking or surprising.

   Linda changed her hair, and it’s scary how much she looks like her mother.

3. (US, colloquial) Subject to sudden alarm; easily frightened.

   Synonyms: nervous, jumpy

   • 1823, James Fenimore Cooper, The Pioneers, New York: Charles Wiley, Volume 2, Chapter 5, p. 77,^[3]

     “Whist! whist!” said Natty, in a low voice, on hearing a slight sound made by Elizabeth, in bending over the side of the canoe, in eager curiosity; “’tis a sceary animal, and it’s a far stroke for a spear. […] ” [the UK edition of the same year has scary (p. 262)]^[4]

   • 1867, John Greenleaf Whittier, “The Wreck of Rivermouth” in The Tent on the Beach, and Other Poems, Boston: Ticknor and Fields, p. 25,^[5]

     “She’s cursed,” said the skipper; “speak her fair:

     I’m scary always to see her shake

     Her wicked head, with its wild gray hair,

     And nose like a hawk, and eyes like a snake.”

   • 1916, Texas Department of Agriculture, Bulletin (issues 47-57), page 150:

     And let us say to these interests that, until the Buy-It-Made-In-Texas movement co-operates with the farmers, we are going to be a little scary of the snare.

   • 1940, Richard Wright, Native Son, London: Jonathan Cape, 1970, Book 1, p. 10,^[6]

     The two brothers stood over the dead rat […] .

     “Please, Bigger, take ’im out,” Vera begged.

     “Aw, don’t be so scary,” Buddy said.

Derived terms

• scarily
• scariness
• scarisome / scarysome
• scary sharp

Translations

Etymology 2

From dialectal English scare (“scraggy”).

Noun

scary

1. Barren land having only a thin coat of grass.

Anagrams

• -crasy, Carys, Crays, carsy, crays, scray