frightnoun [ S or U ]
uk/fraɪt/us/fraɪt/C1 the feeling of fear, especially if felt suddenly, or an experience of fear that happens suddenly:
I lay in bed shaking with fright.
You gave her such a fright turning the lights out like that.
You gave me the fright of my life (= a very severe fright), jumping out of the shadows like that!
take fright
UK to feel fear:
Our dog took fright at the noise of the fireworks and ran indoors.
More examples
- The sheep ran off in fright, bleating loudly.
- She let out a squeak of fright at the sight of the spider.
- I got such a fright when he flung open the door that I dropped my glass.
- With my bad heart, I should avoid nasty frights like that.
- We had an awful fright, I can tell you, but thank goodness we're safe now.
Thesaurus: synonyms and related words
Fear & phobias
- acrophobia
- aerophobia
- agoraphobic
- alarm
- arachnophobia
- bogey
- chill
- claustrophobia
- cold sweat
- dread
- fearful
- homophobia
- horror
- hydrophobia
- hydrophobic
- panic
- panic stations
- phobia
- terror
- xenophobe
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You can also find related words, phrases, and synonyms in the topics:
Afraid
Idiom(s)
look a fright