scareware

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noun

Software that attempts to scare the user into compliance, as by displaying false warnings of virus infection.

OriginEnglish softwarebf. ← Middle English ware ← Old English waru →
Scrabble 14
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Meanings

nounscareware (uncountable)
  1. informaluncountablecomputingSoftware that attempts to scare the user into compliance, as by displaying false warnings of virus infection.

Origin

  1. Englishscare
  2. Proto-Indo-European*sem-
  3. Proto-Germanic*samþuz /*samftuz
  4. Proto-West Germanic*samft(ī)
  5. Old Englishsōfte
  6. Middle Englishsofte
  7. Englishsoft
  8. Proto-Germanic*warō
  9. Proto-West Germanic*waru
  10. Old Englishwaru
  11. Middle Englishware
  12. Englishsoftwarebf.
  13. Englishscareware

From scare + -ware.

Full word history & related roots →
Cite this entry
APA

scareware. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/scareware

MLA

“scareware.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/scareware. Accessed November 2, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “scareware,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/scareware.

Source: scareware on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.