scarecrow

Meaning

Noun

1. An effigy, typically made of straw and dressed in old clothes, fixed to a pole in a field to deter birds from eating crops or seeds planted there.
2. (broadly, derogatory) A person or animal regarded as resembling a scarecrow (sense 1) in some way; especially, a tall, thin, awkward person; or a person wearing ragged and tattered clothes.
3. (dated) Synonym of crow scarer (“a farmhand employed to scare birds from the fields”).
4. (figuratively) Anything that appears terrifying but presents no danger; a paper tiger.
5. (figuratively, historical) Military equipment or tactics used to scare and deter rather than cause actual damage.
6. (British, dialectal, obsolete) The black tern (Chlidonias niger).
7. (British, dialectal, obsolete) The hooded crow (Corvus cornix).

Verb

1. (transitive) To cause (a person, their body, etc.) to look awkward and stiff, like a scarecrow (noun sense 1).
2. (transitive) To cause (a person, their body, etc.) to look awkward and stiff, like a scarecrow (noun sense 1).
3. (transitive) To frighten or terrify (someone or something), as if using a scarecrow.
4. (archaic, transitive) To spoil the appearance of (something, such as the landscape or a view), as scarecrows may be regarded as doing.

Synonyms

fright

straw man

dummy

strawman

bugaboo

bugbear

scarer

bird-scarer

golliwog

malkin

guy

skinny person

picture

sight

statue

threat

toy

opium addict

scrawny person

jack-straw

model

bogle

cow

🐮

effigy

figurehead

ghost

👻

idol

image

jackstraw

menace

bag of bones

monster

Translations

Vogelscheuche

épouvantail

espantapájaros

spaventapasseri

espantalho

vogelverschrikker

espantaocells

σκιάχτρο

espantall

spauracchio

vogelschrik

espantajo

Strohmann

babarota

Pronounced as (IPA)

/ˈskɛəkɹəʊ/

Etymology

The noun is derived from scare (“to frighten, startle, terrify”) + crow (“bird of the genus Corvus”). The word displaced other terms such as bogle (now dialectal, dated), sewel or shewel, and shoy-hoy (perhaps imitative of the cry of crows).
The verb is derived from the noun.