creepypasta
/ˈkɹipiˌpɑstə/
Word Rarity
Very rare
Frequency: Zipf frequency 2.12 in modern English
20
Scrabble Score
11
Letters
4
Syllables
8
Unique Chars
Meaning
noun
Frightening urban legends and short stories in the horror genre, circulated on the Internet.
Countable; Uncountable
Example Sentences
- "The video is part of a growing phenomenon making its way around message boards and e-mail chains called “creepypasta” — bite-sized bits of scariness that have joined the unending list of things-to-do-when-you’re-bored-at-work. […] Most creepypasta manufacture their own authenticity."
- "The game was born from the familiar 'Slenderman' image, which you may or may not be familiar with from internet memes and creepypasta horror stories."
- ""[…] Listen to the nineteen personal creepypasta-style stories to piece together the mysterious events of that fateful night in 1898, when twelve orphans simply… disappeared!""
- "The eerie “Lavender Town” theme has infiltrated the nightmares of an entire generation of children and has even inspired one of the most well known “creepypastas” on the Internet."
- "A friend pointed her to Creepypasta, a collection of user-generated horror fan sites in which written, Photoshopped, and videotaped accounts of encounters with monsters and supernatural evil are presented as “real” in the form of encyclopedia entries, testimonials, and other “documentary” evidence."
Etymology
Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *grewbʰ-der. Proto-Germanic *kreupaną Proto-West Germanic *kreupan Old English crēopan Middle English crepen English creep Proto-Indo-European *-kos Proto-Germanic *-gaz Proto-West Germanic *-g Old English -iġ Middle English -y English -y English creepy Latin cōpiō Old French copierbor. Middle English copien English copy Ancient Greek πάσσω (pássō) Proto-Indo-European *-tós Proto-Hellenic *-tós Ancient Greek -τός (-tós) Ancient Greek παστός (pastós) Ancient Greek παστά (pastá)bor. Late Latin pasta Old French pastebor. Middle English paste English paste English copy-paste ▲ Late Latin pasta Italian pastabor. English pasta blend English copypasta English creepypasta Blend of creepy + copypasta. Originated from 4chan’s /x/ (paranormal) board sometime around 2006.
Regional Pronunciation
- American English: /ˈkɹipiˌpɑstə/
- British English: /ˈkɹiːpiˌpæstə/