Dictionary.com
Thesaurus.com
Synonyms

fright

American  
[frahyt] / fraɪt /

noun

  1. sudden and extreme fear; a sudden terror.

    Synonyms:
    alarm, consternation, dismay

  2. a person or thing of shocking, grotesque, or ridiculous appearance.

verb (used with object)

  1. to frighten.

fright British  
/ fraɪt /

noun

  1. sudden intense fear or alarm

  2. a sudden alarming shock

  3. informal a horrifying, grotesque, or ludicrous person or thing

    she looks a fright in that hat

  4. to become frightened

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

verb

  1. a poetic word for frighten

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Related Words

See terror.

Other Word Forms

  • self-frighted adjective
  • unfrighted adjective

Etymology

Origin of fright

First recorded before 900; Middle English; Old English frytu, fyrhto; akin to German Furcht

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.