hair-raising
Americanadjective
adjective
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of hair-raising
First recorded in 1895–1900
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.
Gingerly making his way over rapids on unstable-looking logs, fighting off predators, and dealing with other hair-raising complications, Belmont painstakingly makes progress with no prospect of anyone coming to help.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 24, 2026
“Mother Mary” is as hair-raising as it is eyebrow-raising, all spectral senselessness until, out of nowhere, the eeriness gives way to a startling profundity as the film explores remorse with biblical repercussions.
From Salon ● Apr. 24, 2026
For 15 hair-raising minutes, the pilots struggled to evade a half-dozen surface-to-air missiles, spraying countermeasures and executing a series of high-G maneuvers.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Feb. 26, 2026
England have a recent history of hair-raising starts to World Cups.
From BBC ● Feb. 8, 2026
In November, after a hair-raising, bumpy bus ride to Shillong, amidst rumors of Chinese occupation and India’s impending defeat, Estha and Rahel were born.
From "The God of Small Things" by Arundhati Roy
Random Word
Spin the wheel and learn a new word!
Get a wordDefinitions 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.
