fright
Americannoun
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frights
plural
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sudden and extreme fear; a sudden terror.
- Synonyms:
- alarm, consternation, dismay
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a person or thing of shocking, grotesque, or ridiculous appearance.
verb (used with object)
noun
-
sudden intense fear or alarm
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a sudden alarming shock
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informal a horrifying, grotesque, or ludicrous person or thing
she looks a fright in that hat
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to become frightened
verb
Synonym Usage
See terror.
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Etymology
Origin of fright
First recorded before 900; Middle English; Old English frytu, fyrhto; akin to German Furcht
Explanation
Fright is a feeling of fear, dread, or terror. You might scream in fright while watching a scary movie or riding a roller coaster. Some fright is so intense that it makes you jump; other fright is caused by anticipating something vaguely scary, like a trip to the dentist or an encounter with your mean neighbor after your baseball breaks her window. Although it's old fashioned, you can also use fright as a verb, to mean "cause fear." The Old English root of fright is fyrhtu, "fear, dread, trembling, or horrible sight."
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
The audience’s understanding of fright story rules and stock characters seasons the show’s sinister comedy, as it also draws on the audience’s familiarity with places like its titular town, whether by reputation or experience.
From Salon ● Jun. 18, 2026
The rapper and singer will.i.am has played hundreds of shows and sold millions of records, but his latest debut—as a professor of a college class about artificial intelligence—gave him stage fright.
From The Wall Street Journal ● May 18, 2026
Robbie has spoken openly about suffering from stage fright in the past, experiencing terror before walking on stage.
From BBC ● Feb. 4, 2026
The Spaniard only narrowly avoided crashing out after a huge fright at 4-4 in the third set when he pulled up in pain with what appeared to be cramp.
From Barron's ● Jan. 30, 2026
The unexpected fright sent Chickenhound dashing back through Cavern Hole with the outraged Friar’s shouts ringing in his ears.
From "Redwall" by Brian Jacques
Eventually, he finds himself inside a barn with anthropomorphized hay and other frights.
From The Wall Street Journal ● May 27, 2026
On the field, he has impressed as a young captain and here, not without frights, he came through his toughest test so far.
From BBC ● Feb. 8, 2026
These spots are sure to give frights and delights.
From MarketWatch ● Oct. 27, 2025
It’s a classically eerie ghost movie that’s not at all reliant on jump scares or metaphorical frights to unnerve viewers.
From Salon ● Jan. 24, 2025
Once the boogeyperson is done telling us about a few of her favorite frights, Agent Kozy lets us ask questions.
From "Amari and the Night Brothers" by B.B. Alston
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
