Dictionary

give someone the creeps en · VERB

Pronunciation

• (Australia) audio

Meanings

1. (idiomatic) To give someone a feeling of uneasiness or mild fright.
   • As for Leo, he did not altogether like it either, but ran his fingers through his yellow curls, and remarked that it gave him the creeps. 1886 October – 1887 January, H[enry] Rider Haggard, “‘Give Me a Black Goat!’”, in She: A History of Adventure, London: Longmans, Green, and Co., published 1887, →OCLC, page 216:
   • Walking through the graveyard late at night really gives me the creeps.
   • Padilla added that while the tarantulas may give some the creeps, they munch on things that humans often consider pests, including cockroaches, beetles and other insects. 2019 August 9, Dylan Miettinen, “Is that love in the air? Thousands of tarantulas to descend on southeast Colorado in search of mates”, in CNN:
   • It’s the emptiness; there’s no one on the street at that time, along the river. It gives me the creeps. 1997, Roddy Doyle, The Woman Who Walked into Doors:

Forms

Synonyms

give someone the willies · give someone the collywobbles · unnerve someone · creep someone out · spook someone · give someone the heebie-jeebies

Translations (16)

ru мурашки по коже (give someone a feeling of uneasiness or mild fright) · fi aiheuttaa väristyksiä (give someone a feeling of uneasiness or mild fright) · fr donner des frissons (give someone a feeling of uneasiness or mild fright) · es dar yuyu (give someone a feeling of uneasiness or mild fright) · fi värisyttää (give someone a feeling of uneasiness or mild fright) · no gi noen gåsehud (give someone a feeling of uneasiness or mild fright) · pt dar arrepios (give someone a feeling of uneasiness or mild fright) · es dar ñáñaras (give someone a feeling of uneasiness or mild fright) · gl arrepiar (give someone a feeling of uneasiness or mild fright) · es dar repelús (give someone a feeling of uneasiness or mild fright) · gl dar grima (give someone a feeling of uneasiness or mild fright) · fr donner des sueurs froides (give someone a feeling of uneasiness or mild fright) · cmn 讓……毛骨悚然 /让……毛骨悚然 (give someone a feeling of uneasiness or mild fright) · hu borsódzik tőle a háta (give someone a feeling of uneasiness or mild fright) · es dar canguelo (give someone a feeling of uneasiness or mild fright) · fr donner froid dans le dos (give someone a feeling of uneasiness or mild fright)