fright /fraɪt/ BrE AmE noun
[ Word Family: adjective : ↑ frightened , ↑ frightening , ↑ frightful ; noun : ↑ fright , ↑ frighteners ; adverb : ↑ frighteningly , ↑ frightfully ; verb : ↑ frighten ]
[ Language: Old English ; Origin: fyrhto ]
1 . [singular, uncountable] a sudden feeling of fear:
You gave me such a fright creeping up on me like that!
get/have a fright
I got an awful fright when I realised how much money I owed.
with fright
He was shaking with fright.
in fright
Several of the children cried out in fright.
2 . take fright to be very afraid of something, especially so that you run away from it or do not do something that you were going to do:
The bird took fright and flew away.
She had promised to marry him, but took fright at the last moment.
3 . look a fright old-fashioned to look untidy or unattractive
⇨ ↑ stage fright
• • •
THESAURUS
▪ fear a feeling of being frightened:
He was trembling with fear.
|
Fear of failure should not stop you trying.
▪ terror a feeling of great fear, because you think that something terrible is about to happen:
She let out a scream of pure terror.
▪ fright a sudden feeling of fear, or a situation that makes you feel this:
My body was shaking with fright.
|
You gave me a fright!
|
He’s had a bit of fright, that’s all.
▪ panic a sudden feeling of fear or nervousness that makes you unable to think clearly or behave sensibly:
She was in such a panic that she hardly knew what she was doing!
|
There were scenes of sheer panic immediately following the bomb blast.
▪ alarm a feeling of fear or worry which shows in your voice or behaviour, because you think something bad might happen:
When I mentioned her name, he looked up at me in alarm.
|
The streets were calm and there was no sign of alarm.
▪ foreboding /fɔːˈbəʊdɪŋ $ fɔːrˈboʊ-/ a feeling that something bad or unpleasant might happen although there is no obvious reason why it should:
She felt the same sense of foreboding she had before her father died.
▪ phobia /ˈfəʊbiə $ ˈfoʊ-/ a permanent strong unreasonable fear of something:
I had a phobia about going to the dentist.