Creepypasta
noun ·Rare ·Advanced level
Definitions
- 1 Frightening urban legends and short stories in the horror genre, circulated on the Internet. Internet, countable, uncountable
"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."
Example
More examples"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."
Etymology
Blend of creepy + copypasta. Originated from 4chan’s /x/ (paranormal) board sometime around 2006. 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 cōps Latin -ia Latin cōpia Proto-Indo-European *-h₂ Proto-Indo-European *-éh₂ Proto-Indo-European *-yéti Proto-Indo-European *-eh₂yéti Proto-Italic *-āō Latin -ō Latin cōpiō Old French copierbor. Middle English copien English copy Proto-Indo-European *(s)kweh₁t-der. Ancient Greek πάσσω (pássō) Proto-Indo-European *-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
Related phrases
More for "creepypasta"
Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.