English Idiom – Give someone the creeps.
To make someone feel nervous, uneasy or a little bit scared, often for no clear reason.
You pop into a little corner shop on a dark evening. The shopkeeper leans over the counter, smiles a bit too widely and says nothing at all. Even the cat is staring at you. Nothing bad has actually happened, but you suddenly want to leave. He gives you the creeps.
That’s the feeling: a shiver you can’t quite explain, like something creeping over your skin. People, places, noises, old dolls, empty houses at night: almost anything can give you the creeps. The phrase has been around since the 1800s (Charles Dickens used “the creeps” in David Copperfield), and it’s still one of the most common ways to say something feels wrong.
How to Use It
- give someone the creeps: “That old doll in the attic gives me the creeps.”
- get the creeps: “I always get the creeps walking past the graveyard at night.”
- creepy (adjective): “There’s something a bit creepy about that house.”
- a creep (noun, informal and rude): an unpleasant person who makes others feel uncomfortable. “Ignore him, he’s a creep.”
It’s informal, so it’s perfect for chatting with friends, but you wouldn’t put it in a work email.
Example:
- “Turn that music off, it’s giving me the creeps.”
- “Empty schools at night give me the creeps.”
- “That shopkeeper gives me the creeps. Why is he smiling like that?”
- “Clowns have always given my sister the creeps.”
More spooky English: see all 10 Halloween idioms, or try a skeleton in the cupboard, speak of the devil and our Halloween vocabulary.
Learn More
Look it upThe creeps – Cambridge DictionaryCambridge DictionaryWhat is an idiom?
An idiom is a word or phrase that is not taken literally. An idiom is an expression that cannot be understood from the meanings of its individual words, but has a separate meaning of its own.
Frequently Asked Questions
It means to make someone feel nervous, uneasy or a little bit scared, often without a clear reason.
Yes. It is fine in everyday conversation with friends and family, but it is too informal for most work emails or essays.
“The creeps” is the feeling: “That house gives me the creeps.” “Creepy” is the adjective for the thing that causes it: “That house is creepy.”
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🎃 More Halloween English: 10 Halloween idioms · Halloween vocabulary · dress up · a skeleton in the cupboard · jump out of your skin · a ghost town
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