Dictionary

creepypasta en · NOUN

Pronunciation

• (US) audio
• /ˈkɹipiˌpɑstə/ (General-American)
• /ˈkɹiːpiˌpæstə/ (Received-Pronunciation)

Etymology

Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *grewbʰ-der. Proto-Germanic *kreupaną Proto-West Germanic *kreupan Old English crēopan Middle English crepen English creep Proto-Indo-European *-kos Proto-Germanic *-gaz Proto-West Germanic *-g Old English -iġ Middle English -y English -y English creepy Latin cōpiō Old French copierbor. Middle English copien English copy Ancient Greek πάσσω (pássō) Proto-Indo-European *-tós Proto-Hellenic *-tós Ancient Greek -τός (-tós) Ancient Greek παστός (pastós) Ancient Greek παστά (pastá)bor. Late Latin pasta Old French pastebor. Middle English paste English paste English copy-paste ▲ Late Latin pasta Italian pastabor. English pasta blend English copypasta English creepypasta Blend of creepy + copypasta. Originated from 4chan’s /x/ (paranormal) board sometime around 2006.

Meanings

1. (Internet, countable, uncountable) Frightening urban legends and short stories in the horror genre, circulated on the Internet.
   • A friend pointed her to Creepypasta, a collection of user-generated horror fan sites in which written, Photoshopped, and videotaped accounts of encounters with monsters and supernatural evil are presented as “real” in the form of encyclopedia entries, testimonials, and other “documentary” evidence. 2015 August 24, Lisa Miller, “Slender Man Is Watching”, in New York Magazine, page 62:
   • The video is part of a growing phenomenon making its way around message boards and e-mail chains called “creepypasta” — bite-sized bits of scariness that have joined the unending list of things-to-do-when-you’re-bored-at-work. […] Most creepypasta manufacture their own authenticity. 2010 November 14, “Bored at Work? Try Creepypasta, or Web Scares”, in The New York Times, Austin Considine, archived from the original on 18 Apr 2022:
   • The eerie “Lavender Town” theme has infiltrated the nightmares of an entire generation of children and has even inspired one of the most well known “creepypastas” on the Internet. 2013 November 14, Joey Dussault, “The 10 Best Original Soundtracks In The Gaming World”, in Tastemakers Magazine (Northeastern University), number 33, page 11:
   • The game was born from the familiar 'Slenderman' image, which you may or may not be familiar with from internet memes and creepypasta horror stories. 2012 September 14, Kaz Scattergood, “Spooked by Slender, Fuse (Sheffield Students' Union)”, in magazine, volume 9, number 49, archived from the original on 09 Aug 2023, page 2:
   • "[…] Listen to the nineteen personal creepypasta-style stories to piece together the mysterious events of that fateful night in 1898, when twelve orphans simply… disappeared!" 2013 September 14, “Huntsman: The Orphanage”, in Adventure Lantern, number 46, archived from the original on 25 Feb 2023, page 7:

Forms

Descendants

creepypasta · creepypasta · creepypasta · крипипа́ста · 크리피파스타 · كَرِيبِيبَاسْتَا

Hypernyms

scarelore

Translations (10)

eo timigenhavo (Translations) · pl creepypasta (Translations) · cmn 蠕動意麵 /蠕动意面 (Translations) · ko 크리피파스타 (Translations) · es creepypasta (Translations) · pt creepypasta (Translations) · ar كَرِيبِيبَاسْتَا (Translations) · ru крипипа́ста (Translations) · cmn 恐怖意麵 /恐怖意面 (Translations) · mk крипипа́ста (Translations)