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.
“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
But as hair-raising as a loose wolf is for the locals, the situation may be equally fur-raising for Neukgu.
From BBC • Apr. 15, 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
Followers saw their idols tuck into delicacies such as foot-long fries, chat with locals and sample some of the hair-raising rides.
From BBC • Oct. 24, 2025
Aunt Petunia let out a hair-raising shriek; nothing this filthy had entered her house in living memory.
From "Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince" by J.K. Rowling
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.
