fright

[frahyt]

noun

1. sudden and extreme fear; a sudden terror.

   Synonyms: alarm, consternation, dismay

2. a person or thing of shocking, grotesque, or ridiculous appearance.

verb (used with object)

1. to frighten.

fright

/ fraɪt /

noun

1. sudden intense fear or alarm

2. a sudden alarming shock

3. informal,  a horrifying, grotesque, or ludicrous person or thing

   she looks a fright in that hat

4. to become frightened

verb

1. a poetic word for frighten

Other Word Forms

• self-frighted adjective
• unfrighted adjective

Word History and Origins

Origin of fright¹

First recorded before 900; Middle English; Old English frytu, fyrhto; akin to German Furcht

Word History and Origins

Origin of fright¹

Old English fryhto ; related to Gothic faurhtei , Old Frisian fruchte , Old High German forhta

Synonym Study

See terror.

Example Sentences

Paralyzed with fright, she lay facedown on her cot, moaning into the pillow.

Read more on Literature

Lady Constance laughed at the poor girl’s fright, which was really not a very nice thing to do.

Read more on Literature

Here, she discusses the jazz warm-up she’s used for decades, dealing with stage fright and loving the divas she plays.

Read more on The Wall Street Journal

Investors took fright that the deficit will spiral out of control and were mollified somewhat Friday morning when Britain’s Treasury leaked that rosier economic forecasts might leave her with a smaller budget gap.

Read more on The Wall Street Journal

Markets have swung from euphoria to fright in the space of barely a week but it’s not clear that the fundamental dynamics of the U.S. economy or corporate profits have altered all that much.

Read more on Barron's

Related Words

• consternation 
• dismay 
• horror 
• panic 
• trepidation