affright
Americanverb (used with object)
noun
-
sudden fear or terror; fright.
-
a source of terror.
-
the act of terrifying.
verb
noun
Other Word Forms
- self-affrighted adjective
- unaffrighted adjective
- unaffrightedly adverb
Etymology
Origin of affright
before 1000; Middle English afrighten, Old English āfyrhtan, equivalent to ā- a- 3 + fyrhtan to fright
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.
The vivid image of a theatre as a wooden O comes from the prologue to Henry V: "Can this Cock-Pit hold within this Woodden O, the very Caskes that did affright the Ayre at Agincourt?"
From The Guardian • Jun. 5, 2012
The sound of its bell, to paraphrase Poe, was "In the startled ear of night/ How it screamed out its affright!"
From Time Magazine Archive
The words on her bookmark are perhaps her most memorable: Let nothing disturb thee, Let nothing affright thee.
From Time Magazine Archive
I like it not, and I have grave doubts; but I fear to affright her, and so I am silent of it.
From "Dracula" by Bram Stoker
They started back in affright when it made a last convulsive effort to rise.
From Settlers and Scouts by Strang, Herbert
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.
