👻 A fright performer 🪆 A bird decoy

scarer

3 6.1

A person who jumps out to frighten visitors at haunted houses or Halloween events

noun
/ˈskɛrər/

: asustador

During the festival, the scarer jumped out to frighten the crowd, earning plenty of screams.
the top scarer

Examples

I'm going to be a Scarer!

Monsters University (2013)
When I'm a Scarer, life will be a nonstop party.

Monsters University (2013)
I want to be a Scarer.

Monsters University (2013)
How do I become a Scarer?

Monsters University (2013)
Sullivan was twice the scarer you will ever be.

Monsters, Inc. (2001)
I thought maybe you might come by tomorrow and, uh, give them a demonstration... show them what it takes to be our top scarer, huh?

Monsters, Inc. (2001)
Mike, I don't know a single Scarer who can do what you do.

Monsters University (2013)
The best Scarers use their differences to their advantage.

Monsters University (2013)
I need scarers who are confident, tenacious, tough, intimidating.

Monsters, Inc. (2001)
As a talented scarer, he entertained visitors at the haunted house during Halloween.

Synonyms

ghoster

vsscarer

8.2

A person who pretends to be a ghost to scare or entertain people

is a general fright performer not limited to a single character role

Antonyms

comforter

5 3.4

A person who helps someone feel less sad or worried

soother

4.2

A person who calms others during arguments or distress

Compounds

bird-scarer

7.0

A thing that people put in fields to keep birds away from crops

How Scary

scarer

3 6.1

performer

261 2.5

Surface Forms

scarer singular

scarers plural

Morphology

scarer = scare (transparent) = scare + er

The word is transparently derived from the verb 'scare' with the agentive suffix '-er', indicating a person who performs the action.

Etymology

Scarer comes from the verb scare ('to frighten') plus the ending -er ('one who'), so it means 'a person who frightens others'. That's why a scarer can be an actor in a haunted house whose job is to make people feel scared.