Nightfright
noun ·Rare ·Advanced level
Definitions
- 1 Fear of the night, nyctophobia, noctophobia uncountable
"Though we have had stage windows before, and by the thousands, I don't think I have ever seen this particular use made of them: the sense of air, of nightfright beyond the walls, of extended dimension is so palpable that you believe in the continuing world past the leaded-glass door, half-imagine that you can remember the street-address tacked over it."
- 2 A terror or fright typically occurring at night. countable
"In the warm light she looked like a little girl who has suffered a night-fright."
Example
More examples"Though we have had stage windows before, and by the thousands, I don't think I have ever seen this particular use made of them: the sense of air, of nightfright beyond the walls, of extended dimension is so palpable that you believe in the continuing world past the leaded-glass door, half-imagine that you can remember the street-address tacked over it."
Etymology
From night + fright.
More for "nightfright"
Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.