Fright
adj, noun, verb ·Moderate ·College level
Definitions
- 1 A state of terror excited by the sudden appearance of danger; sudden and violent fear, usually of short duration; a sudden alarm. countable, uncountable
"With a bolt of fright he remembered that there was no bathroom in the Hobhouse Room. He leapt along the corridor in a panic, stopping by the long-case clock at the end where he flattened himself against the wall."
- 2 an emotion experienced in anticipation of some specific pain or danger (usually accompanied by a desire to flee or fight) wordnet
- 3 Someone strange, ugly or shocking, producing a feeling of alarm or aversion. countable, uncountable
"Her maids were old, and if she took a new one, You might be sure she was a perfect fright; She did this during even her husband's life I recommend as much to every wife."
- 1 To frighten. archaic, transitive
"Are not you he […] That frights the maidens of the villagery […] ?"
- 2 cause fear in wordnet
- 1 frightened; afraid; affright rare
"Don't be fright, it is not so impossible as it seems."
Antonyms
All antonymsExample
More examples"Helen jumped in fright at the strange sound."
Etymology
From Middle English fright, furht, from Old English fryhtu, fyrhto (“fright, fear, dread, trembling, horrible sight”), from Proto-Germanic *furhtį̄ (“fear”), from Proto-Indo-European *pr̥k- (“to fear”). Cognate with Scots fricht (“fright”), Old Frisian fruchte (“fright”), Low German frucht (“fright”), Middle Dutch vrucht, German Furcht (“fear, fright”), Danish frygt (“fear”), Swedish fruktan (“fear, fright, dread”), Gothic 𐍆𐌰𐌿𐍂𐌷𐍄𐌴𐌹 (faurhtei, “fear, horror, fright”). Compare possibly Albanian frikë (“fear, fright, dread, danger”).
Probably short for affright, from Middle English afright, from Old English āfyrht, past participle of āfyrhtan (“to make afraid; terrify”).
Related phrases
More for "fright"
Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.