FRIGHT

fear, fearfulness, fright

(noun) an emotion experienced in anticipation of some specific pain or danger (usually accompanied by a desire to flee or fight)

frighten, fright, scare, affright

(verb) cause fear in; “The stranger who hangs around the building frightens me”; “Ghosts could never affright her”

Source: WordNet® 3.1


Etymology 1

Noun

fright (countable and uncountable, plural frights)

A state of terror excited by the sudden appearance of danger; sudden and violent fear, usually of short duration; a sudden alarm.

Anything strange, ugly or shocking, producing a feeling of alarm or aversion.

Verb

fright (third-person singular simple present frights, present participle frighting, simple past and past participle frighted)

(archaic, transitive) To frighten.

Etymology 2

Adjective

fright (comparative more fright, superlative most fright)

(rare) frightened; afraid; affright

Source: Wiktionary


Fright, n. Etym: [OE. frigt, freyht, AS. fyrhto, fyrhtu; akin to OS. forhta, OHG. forhta, forahta, G. furcht, Dan. frygt, Sw. fruktan, Goth. faĂşrhtei fear, faĂşrhts timid.]

1. A state of terror excited by the sudden appearance of danger; sudden and violent fear, usually of short duration; a sudden alarm.

2. Anything strange, ugly or shocking, producing a feeling of alarm or aversion. [Colloq.]

Syn.

– Alarm; terror; consternation. See Alarm.

Fright, v. t. [imp. Frighted; p. pr. & vb. n.. Frighting.] Etym: [OE. frigten to fear, frighten, AS. fyrhtan to frighten, forhtian to fear; akin to OS. forhtian, OHG. furihten, forahtan, G. fĂĽrchten, Sw. frukta, Dan. frygte, Goth. faurhtjan. See Fright, n., and cf. Frighten.]

Definition: To alarm suddenly; to shock by causing sudden fear; to terrify; to scare. Nor exile or danger can fright a brave spirit. Dryden.

Syn.

– To affright; dismay; daunt; intimidate.

Source: Webster’s Unabridged Dictionary 1913 Edition



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Word of the Day

3 April 2025

WHOLE

(noun) an assemblage of parts that is regarded as a single entity; “how big is that part compared to the whole?”; “the team is a unit”


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Coffee Trivia

The Boston Tea Party helped popularize coffee in America. The hefty tea tax imposed on the colonies in 1773 resulted in America switching from tea to coffee. In the lead up to the Revolutionary War, it became patriotic to sip java instead of tea. The Civil War made the drink more pervasive. Coffee helped energize tired troops, and drinking it became an expression of freedom.

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