askered
Scared; frightened.
Also called skeered, afeared, ascared.
Updated September 21, 2026
askered pronunciation
/uh-SKEERD/
Meaning
A dialect way to say scared. Same feeling as afeared or skeered. You might be askered of the dark, a mean dog, or a storm rolling in. Plain fear, no fancy wording.
How folks use it
- “Don't be askered of that old mule. He's gentle.”
- “The kids got askered when the lights went out.”
Origin and etymology
Southern and Appalachian speech reshaped scared and afeared into forms like skeered and askered. The a- prefix echoes older words such as afeared. Exact spelling varies because it is mostly an oral form writers catch by ear.