make one's hair stand on end

1. Also, make one's hair curl. Terrify one, as in The very thought of an earthquake makes my hair stand on end, or Diving off a high board is enough to make my hair curl. The first term, first recorded in 1534, alludes to goose pimples prompted by fear, which cause the hairs around them to stand up. The variant dates from the mid-1900s.

Example Sentences

The dismal reports from mobilized soldiers “make one’s hair stand on end,” state television anchor Vladimir Solovyov declared Thursday.

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We gave nothing, and they commented upon us with a gravity of moral reprobation quite fit to make one's hair stand on end, even with New England versus beggar behind one.

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And now, my Hannah'li, I tell you once and for all, it is enough to make one's hair stand on end, and hardly to be believed!

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A thing to make one's hair stand on end!

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It's enough to make one's hair stand on end.

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