Heebie-jeebies - Definition, Meaning & Synonyms

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SKIP TO CONTENT heebie-jeebies /ˌhibi ˌdʒibiz/ IPA guide

If you have the heebie-jeebies, you're worried, anxious, or jumpy. Haunted houses, for example, give many people the heebie-jeebies, while others get the heebie-jeebies from circus clowns.

If something gives you the heebie-jeebies, it makes you very nervous. The word is especially useful when something — or someone — gives you the creeps, but you can't put your finger on exactly what it is that makes you so jittery. Heebie-jeebies first appeared in print in the U.S., originally in a 1923 "Barney Google" cartoon by Billy DeBeck, who is also credited with inventing the word horsefeathers, which means "nonsense."

Definitions of heebie-jeebies

noun extreme nervousness synonyms: jitters, screaming meemies see moresee less type of: nerves, nervousness an uneasy psychological state

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Copy citation DISCLAIMER: These example sentences appear in various news sources and books to reflect the usage of the word ‘heebie-jeebies'. Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Vocabulary.com or its editors. Send us feedback Commonly confused words

How Did We Get the "Heebie-Jeebies"?

It turns out we can pin down not just the coiner of the heebie-jeebies, but the very day the word was coined.

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