ENGLISH
REFERENCE

creep out

phr. v..
B2 Upper Intermediate Oxford

phr. v.. to make you feel nervous, uncomfortable, or scared in a strange way.

phr. v.. to cause a person to experience a sense of unease, revulsion, or fear, typically through behavior or an environment that feels uncanny or threatening.


SIMPLE

That old house really creeps me out at night.

CONTEXTUAL

The way he stares at people without blinking really creeps me out.

COMPLEX

The abandoned asylum, with its peeling wallpaper and echoing corridors, was enough to creep out even the most experienced urban explorers.

Particles
out
Separability
optional
Pattern
creep + object + out
Usage

almost always used with a person as the direct object.

Teaching tip

this is a highly productive informal expression; contrast it with 'scare' to show that 'creep out' is specifically about feeling uneasy or 'weirded out' rather than just afraid.

Pitfall

I am creeped out from that movie.I am creeped out by that movie.the preposition 'by' is used to indicate the source of the feeling when using the passive form.

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