creepy-crawly
creepy-crawly noun: any small crawling animal such as a spider, insect or worm that is unpleasant.
Noun (1)
creepy-crawly (plural creepy-crawlies)
- Any small crawling animal such as a spider, insect or worm that is unpleasant.
- Mattresses were either spring or made of old straw, and sometimes contained little creepy-crawlies.1919, Gerald Featherstone Knight, Brother Bosch: An Airman's Escape from Germany
- Many experts believe there is a clear environmental benefit to humans eating creepy-crawlies.2013 March 2, Tracy McVeigh, “Insects could be the planet's next food source… even if that gives you the creeps”, in The Observer
- Synonyms:
- creepy crawler
Adjective
creepy-crawly (comparative more creepy-crawly, superlative most creepy-crawly)
- Unpleasant, repulsive.
- […] and slimy, creepy-crawly dungeons with chains for your hands and feet; […]1903, Lloyd Osbourne, “Ffrenches First”, in Love, the Fiddler
- Still he paid no heed; and I don't mind saying to you men that, for half a second, I felt creepy-crawly and goose-flesh down the back.1921, Dorothy Scarborough, Humorous Ghost Stories
Noun (2)
creepy-crawly (plural creepy-crawlies)
creepy-crawly meaning in Hindi and Tamil
creepy-crawly in Hindi
- creepy-crawly, an insect, bug
- कीड़ा-मकोड़ा kīṛā-makoṛā
creepy-crawly in Tamil
- நமது பூமியில் காணப்படும் பூச்சிகளில், இது முக்கியமானதொரு இனமாகும்
Synonyms of creepy-crawly
Forms of creepy-crawly
| Noun | |
|---|---|
| plural | creepy-crawlies |
| Adjective | |
| comparative | more creepy-crawly |
| superlative | most creepy-crawly |
Origin of creepy-crawly
A partial appellativization of Kreepy Krauly, a brand name, from Etymology 1.
Questions about creepy-crawly
- What does creepy-crawly mean?
- Creepy-crawly means any small crawling animal such as a spider, insect or worm that is unpleasant.
- What is creepy-crawly in Hindi?
- Creepy-crawly in Hindi is कीड़ा-मकोड़ा (kīṛā-makoṛā). See Creepy-crawly meaning in Hindi.
- What part of speech is creepy-crawly?
- Creepy-crawly can be a noun or an adjective.
- What is the plural of creepy-crawly?
- The plural of creepy-crawly is creepy-crawlies.
Words near creepy-crawly in the dictionary
Source and license
Adapted from Wiktionary: creepy-crawly (page history and authors); कीड़ा-मकोड़ा (Hindi) (page history and authors); creepy-crawly (Tamil Wiktionary) (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.
Last updated:
Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: EN-AU ck1 creepy-crawly.ogg.
Cite this entry: “creepy-crawly.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/creepy-crawly. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.