What does alarm mean?
Alarm refers both to a sudden feeling of fear or anxious concern and to any device or signal designed to warn of danger or rouse someone from sleep. As an emotion, it sits between mild unease and outright panic: news reports might speak of 'growing alarm' over an economic crisis, while a doctor's 'cause for alarm' signals genuine worry. As an object, the word names familiar fixtures of daily life — the alarm clock that ends the night, the fire alarm that empties a building, the car alarm that blares at a passing cat. As a verb, to alarm someone is to fill them with sudden fear or concern, a slightly more formal alternative to 'scare' or 'frighten'. The word carries an inherently urgent connotation, rooted in its origin as a military call to arms, which gives it lasting force whether describing a ringing bell or rising dread.
A sudden fear or anxious awareness of danger; also a device or signal that warns of danger or wakes someone with a loud sound.
"The villagers raised the alarm when they saw smoke coming from the forest."
Distinguish between the emotional sense (fear) and the concrete sense (device/signal); plural usage applies mainly to devices and warnings rather than the emotion.
To cause someone to feel sudden fear, anxiety, or concern.
"The sharp drop in sales alarmed the board of directors."
Typically used with a person or group as the direct object; register is neutral-to-formal.
The plural is standard for the device/warning sense ('several false alarms', 'both alarms rang'). For the emotional sense, 'alarms' appears mostly in formal writing ('public alarms'), where 'alarm' uncountable is more common.
"The building has three fire alarms on each floor."
The word 'alarm' comes from an Italian battle cry — 'all'arme!' — literally a shout telling soldiers to grab their weapons.
Reviewed by Deb Chak, Editor. AI-assisted content curated by RJS Tech Solutions LLP.
Etymology of alarm
Alarm derives from the Italian phrase 'all'arme!', meaning 'to arms!', a cry urging soldiers to take up their weapons against attack. It passed into Old French as 'alarme' before entering English in the late Middle Ages, initially meaning a call to arms or sudden attack. Over time it broadened from the military sphere to mean any sudden fear or warning of danger, and later still came to name mechanical devices such as clocks and sirens. It shares a distant root with words built on Latin 'arma' (weapons), such as armada and disarm.
Related word forms
How alarm is actually used
As a noun, 'alarm' covers both the emotion of fear and the physical device or warning signal; context usually makes clear which sense applies. The verb form takes a person as its object ('the news alarmed her') and is more formal than 'scare' or 'frighten'. In British English, 'alarmed and dismayed' is a common formal pairing in journalism.
Easily confused with alarm
Alacrity means cheerful eagerness and willingness, whereas alarm means fear or anxiety about danger — nearly opposite emotional states.