Causing an eerie, unsettling feeling; making you feel slightly afraid or disturbed.
From 'creep,' originally meaning to move slowly and stealthily, with roots in Old English 'creopan.' The adjective 'creepy' developed in the 1800s for things that creep you out.
Creepy originally described how you physically move when scared—slow, careful, trying not to be noticed! So calling something creepy is like saying 'it makes you want to move like that,' which is why the word perfectly captures that skin-crawling feeling.
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