spidey-sense

A form of spidey sense — An intuitive feeling, usually of something being dangerous or risky; (more generally) instinct, intuition.

Meanings

spidey-sense1

nounspidey-sense (plural spidey-senses)

plural spidey-senses

  1. alternativeAlternative spelling of Spidey sense.

    While we are all enticed by the roller-coaster ride that will come with owning a 21-year-old Ronald Acuna, most of our spidey-senses tell us that a safe player in the first round allows us to survive six months of injuries and ineffectiveness from some of our subsequent picks.

    2019 February 27, Fred Zinkie, “Ranking the Safest First-round Picks in Fantasy Baseball Drafts”, in Yahoo! Sports, archived from the original on 18 Mar 2019

Spidey-sense2

nounSpidey-sense (plural Spidey-senses)

plural Spidey-senses

  1. alternativeAlternative spelling of Spidey sense.

    A sense of foreboding, almost like a Spidey-sense, tingled at the back of my neck.

    2010, Tate Hallaway [pseudonym; Lyda Morehouse], Honeymoon of the Dead, New York, N.Y.: Berkley Books, →ISBN
    5 more examples

    Having known the man for most of his life he had a certain Spidey-sense when it came to Tim’s problems.

    2003, Matthew F. Winn, chapter 1, in The Sandman, College Station, Tex.: Virtualbookworm.com Publishing, →ISBN, page 5

    Abby, let me ask you this: Is your spidey sense sure Alison was killed by a man? Your other clues were that 'he' was short, wore oversized clothing, and had dark hair. What if Alison was killed by a butch-looking female?

    2004 December, Victoria Laurie, Abby Cooper, Psychic Eye (A Psychic Eye Mystery), New York, N.Y.: Signet, New American Library, →ISBN

    But the sports media elite, eating free press box sushi while the rest of us are paying $9.00 for a hot dog, could never understand what set our collective spidey senses tingling.

    2005, Dave Zirin, “Stir of Echoes: A New Sporting Resistance?”, in What’s My Name, Fool?: Sports and Resistance in the United States, Chicago, Ill.: Haymarket Books, →ISBN, page 259

    Don't settle for taking the world at face value. Too many people see a logo or a uniform and make bad assumptions. If your Spidey-sense tells you something's wrong, it probably is. If you don't have Spidey-sense, walk loudly and carry a big stick.

    2009, “Top Ten Ways to Shut Down Hackers”, in Securing Intellectual Property: Protecting Trade Secrets and Other Information Assets, Burlington, Mass.; Oxford, Oxfordshire: Butterworth-Heinemann; Syngress, →ISBN, page 153

    As I turn to the right to get to the Registration Desk, my spidey senses are starting to warn me. There's nothing I can see that is cause for immediate concern, but I know I've got to keep paying attention to those spidey senses. I know they've saved me in the past.

    2018 March 10, Brad Bagwell, chapter 1, in The Hunter: Southeast Asia, Ishpeming, Mich.: BookVenture Publishing, →ISBN, page 3

Spidey-Sense3

nounSpidey-Sense (plural Spidey-Senses)

plural Spidey-Senses

  1. alternativeAlternative spelling of Spidey sense.
Cite this entry
APA

spidey-sense. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 4, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/spidey-sense

MLA

“spidey-sense.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/spidey-sense. Accessed November 4, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “spidey-sense,” accessed November 4, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/spidey-sense.

Source: spidey-sense on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.