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Phobia vs Scary - What's the difference?

phobia | scary |

As nouns the difference between phobia and scary

is that phobia is an irrational or obsessive fear or anxiety, usually of or about something particular while scary is barren land having only a thin coat of grass.

As an adjective scary is

causing or able to cause fright.

phobia

English

Noun

  • An irrational or obsessive fear or anxiety, usually of or about something particular.
    • I know someone with a strange phobia of ladders.

    Related terms

    * -phobe * -phobia * -phobic

    Derived terms

    Hyponyms

    * See .

    See also

    * *

    scary

    English

    Etymology 1

    Adjective

    (er)
  • Causing or able to cause fright
    • The tiger's jaws were scary.
    She was hiding behind her pillow during the scary parts of the film.
  • (US, colloquial, dated) Subject to sudden alarm; nervous, jumpy.
    • (Whittier)
  • * 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.
    Synonyms
    * (causing fright) frightening

    Etymology 2

    From dialectal English .

    Noun

  • Barren land having only a thin coat of grass.

    • Anagrams

    * *