Definitions
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.
- noun Sudden intense fear, as of something immediately threatening. synonym: fear.
- noun Informal Something extremely unsightly, alarming, or strange.
- transitive verb To frighten.
from The Century Dictionary.
- To frighten; affright; terrify; scare.
- noun Sudden and extreme fear; terror caused by the sudden appearance or prospect of danger.
- noun Anything which by its sudden occurrence or appearance may greatly startle and alarm; hence, by hyperbole, a person of a shocking, grotesque, or ridiculous appearance in either person or dress: as, she is a perfect fright.
- noun Synonyms Terror, Dismay, etc. See
alarm .
from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.
- transitive verb To alarm suddenly; to shock by causing sudden fear; to terrify; to scare.
- noun A state of terror excited by the sudden appearance of danger; sudden and violent fear, usually of short duration; a sudden alarm.
- noun colloq. Anything strange, ugly or shocking, producing a feeling of alarm or aversion.
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.
- noun A state of
terror excited by the sudden appearance of danger; sudden and violentfear , usually of short duration; a suddenalarm . - noun Anything strange, ugly or
shocking , producing a feeling ofalarm oraversion . - verb archaic to
frighten
from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.
- verb cause fear in
- noun an emotion experienced in anticipation of some specific pain or danger (usually accompanied by a desire to flee or fight)
Etymologies
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License
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Examples
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-- "But consider the fright your honor put us into," replied Pat, -- "_consider the fright_!"
The Jest Book The Choicest Anecdotes and Sayings Mark Lemon 1839
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McWhorter speculates on a possible connection between certain Germanic and Semitic roots, such as the English word fright compared with the Semitic root p-r-kh meaning "to fear."
The line between cranks and scholars Kylopod 2009
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McWhorter speculates on a possible connection between certain Germanic and Semitic roots, such as the English word fright compared with the Semitic root p-r-kh meaning "to fear."
Archive 2009-04-01 Kylopod 2009
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"Not what I call a fright," he asserted in an even tone.
A Master's Degree 1913
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"Not what I call a fright," he asserted in an even tone.
A Master's Degree Margaret Hill McCarter 1899
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"I cannot advise what you call a fright, and what might be a terrible thing."
Dona Perfecta Benito P��rez Gald��s 1881
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Balm for the souls of those scarred for life by childhood encounters with balloon-twisting bogeymen in fright wigs.
Boing Boing 2009
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If the NDP had begun to rise for the Aye vote, he and his caucus would have passed out in fright and shock on the spot -- and the Tories, with the distinct possibility of a majority in their sights, would have burst into song.
Archive 2009-10-01 2009
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But basically it looks to me like we had little boys writing foul graffitti on the wall and running away in fright when someone objected.
The Volokh Conspiracy » A Sad Victory for Thuggery in Texas 2010
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One of the revelations in Threepenny Memoir was how crippling Barât's stage fright is – a surprise when the Libertines are routinely voted as one of the best live bands.
Carl Barât: The interview Alice Fisher 2010
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