It was frightful when my car skidded on the ice.
Source: tatoeba (265446)
Frightful
/ˈfɹaɪtfəl/
Synonyms for "frightful" (90 found)
Ranked by relevance and common usage.
Closest matches (18)
Strong matches (27)
Adjective(6 words)
Adjective(1 words)
Related words (45)
Choosing the right synonym
- Closest matches in this entry: awful, abhorrent, abominable, alarming, appalling.
- Sentence evidence is available for frightful, so synonym choice can be checked against real usage rather than a flat word list.
- Ranking signals come from wordnet, opengloss, moby, wiktionary, and related lexical sources.
Synonym selection checklist
- Match the part of speech before comparing meanings.
- Check whether the synonym changes intensity, formality, or emotional tone.
- Read the replacement inside the full sentence, not just beside "frightful".
- Prefer the clearest word over the most unusual word when writing for speed or comprehension.
When not to replace "frightful"
Keep "frightful" when the sentence already sounds natural, when a synonym would add unintended emphasis, or when readers need the most familiar wording. A synonym should clarify or sharpen the message, not simply make the sentence look more varied.
If two options seem close, choose the one that best matches the audience and purpose of the sentence.
Replacement workflow
1. Preserve meaning
Choose a synonym only if it keeps the core idea of "frightful" intact in the sentence you are editing.
2. Tune tone
Check whether the replacement sounds more formal, casual, emotional, technical, or forceful than the original word.
3. Re-read context
Read the full sentence after the swap. Keep the synonym only when the sentence becomes clearer or more precise.
Review note: Synonym lists are ranked with lexical data and reviewed for practical writing value. Use the comparison notes, sentence evidence, and source labels together; a high-ranking synonym can still be wrong when the audience, register, or grammar changes.
Final fit check
After choosing a replacement for "frightful", read the sentence once for meaning and once for rhythm. The best synonym should feel natural in the full sentence, not only accurate in a word list.
If the synonym makes the sentence slower, vaguer, or more dramatic than intended, keep "frightful" or choose a simpler alternative from the closest-match group.
Related word relations
OpenGloss and ConceptNet supply richer edges like generalizations, collocations, and derivations.
More general
3 entriesmagnitude descriptornegative attributenegative evaluation
More specific
6 entriesCollocations
6 entriesfrightful consequencesfrightful displayfrightful eventsfrightful screamfrightful talefrightful weather
Inflections
2 entriesmore frightfulmost frightful
Derivations
2 entriessimilar
3 entriesTranslations
21 translations across 14 languages.
Ancient Greek
1 entries- δασπλῆτις adj (full of that which causes fright)
Bulgarian
3 entries- страшен adj (full of that which causes fright)
- ужасен adj (full of that which causes fright)
- уплашен adj (full of fright)
Esperanto
1 entries- timiga adj (full of that which causes fright)
French
1 entries- effrayant adj (full of fright)
Galician
1 entries- aterrador adj (full of fright)
German
1 entries- furchtbar adj (full of that which causes fright)
Hindi
1 entries- भयानक adj (full of that which causes fright)
Irish
1 entries- scanrúil adj (full of that which causes fright)
Latin
1 entries- metūculōsus adj (full of that which causes fright)
Plautdietsch
2 entries- forchtsom adj (full of that which causes fright)
- schrakjlich adj (full of that which causes fright)
Portuguese
1 entries- assustador adj (full of fright)
Sanskrit
2 entries- घोर adj (full of that which causes fright)
- भीष्म adj (full of that which causes fright)
Spanish
1 entries- temible adj (full of that which causes fright)
Turkish
4 entries- dehşet adj (full of that which causes fright)
- korku dolu adj (full of fright)
- korkulu adj (full of fright)
- korkunç adj (full of that which causes fright)
Sample sentences
16 total sentences available.
I was filled with frightful sorrow for her.
Source: tatoeba (317604)
Gold gives an air of beauty even to ugliness: but with poverty everything becomes frightful.
Source: tatoeba (608110)
The most merciful thing in the world, I think, is the inability of the human mind to correlate all its contents. We live on a placid island of ignorance in the midst of black seas of infinity, and it was not meant that we should voyage far. The sciences, each straining in its own direction, have hitherto harmed us little; but some day the piecing together of dissociated knowledge will open up such terrifying vistas of reality, and of our frightful position therein, that we shall either go mad from the revelation or flee from the deadly light into the peace and safety of a new dark age.
Source: tatoeba (628703)
Showing 4 of 16 available sentences.
Common questions
What are the closest synonyms for "frightful"?
Closest matches include awful, abhorrent, abominable, alarming, appalling.
How should I check whether a synonym fits "frightful"?
Compare the replacement against real sentence context. This entry includes sample sentences so you can check tone, grammar, and meaning before swapping words.