FRIGHT

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 Dictionary entry overview: What does fright mean? 

• FRIGHT (noun)
  The noun FRIGHT has 1 sense:

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

  Familiarity information: FRIGHT used as a noun is very rare.

• FRIGHT (verb)
  The verb FRIGHT has 1 sense:

1. cause fear in

  Familiarity information: FRIGHT used as a verb is very rare.

 Dictionary entry details 

• FRIGHT (noun)

Sense 1

Meaning:

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

Classified under:

Nouns denoting feelings and emotions

Synonyms:

fear; fearfulness; fright

Hypernyms ("fright" is a kind of...):

emotion (any strong feeling)

Meronyms (parts of "fright"):

cold sweat (the physical condition of concurrent perspiration and chill; associated with fear)

Attribute:

afraid (filled with fear or apprehension)

fearless; unafraid (oblivious of dangers or perils or calmly resolute in facing them)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "fright"):

creeps (a feeling of fear and revulsion)

intimidation (the feeling of being intimidated; being made to feel afraid or timid)

timidity; timidness; timorousness (fear of the unknown or unfamiliar or fear of making decisions)

apprehension; apprehensiveness; dread (fearful expectation or anticipation)

stage fright (fear that affects a person about to face an audience)

panic attack; scare (a sudden attack of fear)

affright; panic; terror (an overwhelming feeling of fear and anxiety)

hysteria (excessive or uncontrollable fear)

horror (intense and profound fear)

chill; frisson; quiver; shiver; shudder; thrill; tingle (an almost pleasurable sensation of fright)

alarm; consternation; dismay (fear resulting from the awareness of danger)

Derivation:

fright (cause fear in)

• FRIGHT (verb)

Sense 1

Meaning:

Cause fear in

Classified under:

Verbs of feeling

Synonyms:

affright; fright; frighten; scare

Context example:

Ghosts could never affright her

Hypernyms (to "fright" is one way to...):

excite; shake; shake up; stimulate; stir (stir the feelings, emotions, or peace of)

Cause:

dread; fear (be afraid or scared of; be frightened of)

Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "fright"):

bluff (frighten someone by pretending to be stronger than one really is)

awe (inspire awe in)

terrify; terrorise; terrorize (fill with terror; frighten greatly)

intimidate (make timid or fearful)

alarm; appal; appall; dismay; horrify (fill with apprehension or alarm; cause to be unpleasantly surprised)

consternate (fill with anxiety, dread, dismay, or confusion)

spook (frighten or scare, and often provoke into a violent action)

Sentence frames:

Somebody ----s somebody
Something ----s somebody

Sentence example:

The bad news will fright him

Derivation:

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

 Context examples 

But I regret to state that the fright I had given him proved too much for his best attempts at concealment.

(David Copperfield, by Charles Dickens)

I called in fright, "Lucy! Lucy!" and something raised a head, and from where I was I could see a white face and red, gleaming eyes.

(Dracula, by Bram Stoker)

She screamed with fright as he seized her dress in his teeth and dragged on it till the frail fabric tore away.

(White Fang, by Jack London)

At any moment he was liable to be snapped off the gaff, but he was helpless with fright.

(The Sea-Wolf, by Jack London)

Dorothy looked, and gave a little cry of fright.

(The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, by L. Frank Baum)

As soon as the dwarf had recovered from his first fright he cried with his shrill voice: Could you not have done it more carefully!

(Fairy Tales, by The Brothers Grimm)

Yet there they sat, driven clean mad with terror, and Brenda lying dead of fright, with her head hanging over the arm of the chair.

(His Last Bow, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

By degrees I was brought into another room, whence I peeped into the street, but drew my head back in a fright.

(Gulliver's Travels into several remote nations of the world, by Jonathan Swift)

It was a fearful cry, but the fox, leaping away in fright, did not drop the ptarmigan.

(Love of Life and Other Stories, by Jack London)

You can at least tell me whether my own thought is correct, and if she died from some sudden fright.

(The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)