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
It was late when he entered the cottage, and his wife could not repress an exclamation of affright when she saw his pale and troubled countenance.
From Harper's New Monthly Magazine, Vol III, No 13, 1851 by Various
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.
