scariant

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noun

An unconfirmed or unstudied variant or strain of COVID-19 that causes widespread panic.

“Public health officials derided the X-MPLE strain as a "scariant" last night.”

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Meanings

nounscariant (plural scariants)

plural scariants

  1. informalAn unconfirmed or unstudied variant or strain of COVID-19 that causes widespread panic.

    Public health officials derided the X-MPLE strain as a "scariant" last night.

    1 more example

    Initial reactions have been sceptical at best, with prominent experts suggesting the apparent new strain looks more like a “scariant” – an unconfirmed strain causing a global scare – than a variant.

    2022 January 11, Aude Mazoue, “Covid variant or ‘scariant’? Experts warn a future ‘Deltacron’ is possible”, in France24

Origin

Blend of scare + variant.

Full word history & related roots →

Rhymes & wordplay

Anagrams

carnitasarcanist
Cite this entry
APA

scariant. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/scariant

MLA

“scariant.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/scariant. Accessed November 3, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “scariant,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/scariant.

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