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willies
give you the creeps
1. to make you feel frightened or nervous give you the willies This old house gives me the creeps.
2. to cause someone to feel dislike or disgust My neighbor gives me the creeps.
Usage notes: also used in the form get the creeps: The moment she met Billy, she got the creeps.
give you the willies
to make you feel frightened or nervous
give you the creeps Driving at night on country roads gives me the willies. Usage notes: also used in the form get the willies (to become frightened or nervous): I get the willies whenever I think of having to take exams.
give somebody the creeps/willies
(informal) to make you feel frightened and anxious, especially when there is no real reason for this This old house gives me the creeps. I've never liked spiders - they give me the willies.
the creeps
Also, the willies. A sensation of horror or repugnance, as in That weird man gives me the creeps, or I get the willies when I hear that dirge music. The first of these colloquial terms alludes to a sensation of something crawling on one's skin. Charles Dickens used it in David Copperfield (1849) to describe a physical ailment: "She was constantly complaining of the cold and of its occasioning a visitation in her back, which she called 'the creeps.'" But soon after it was used to describe fear and loathing. The variant dates from the late 1800s, and both its allusion and origin are unclear.
willies
the creeps
n. the jitters; a case of nerves. These movies always give me the creeps.
willies
n. a case of fear or anxiety. (see also
screaming-meemies.)
That kind of movie always gives me the willies.
Common Names:
| Name | Gender | Pronounced | Usage |
|---|
| Brett | | [brɛt] | |
| Justinas | | - | Lithuanian |
| Clementina | | kle-men-TEE-nah (Italian, Spanish), klə-mən-TEE-nə (Portuguese) | Italian, Spanish, Portuguese |
| ÁSta | | - | Ancient Scandinavian, Icelandic |
| Lado | | - | Georgian |
| Donato | | do-NAH-to (Italian, Spanish) | Italian, Spanish, Portuguese |