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fright

noun
/fɹaɪt/UK/fɹʌit/CA

Etymology

From Middle English fright, furht, from Old English fryhtu, fyrhto (“fright, fear, dread, trembling, horrible sight”), from Proto-Germanic *furhtį̄ (“fear”), from Proto-Indo-European *pr̥k- (“to fear”). Cognate with Scots fricht (“fright”), Old Frisian fruchte (“fright”), Low German frucht (“fright”), Middle Dutch vrucht, German Furcht (“fear, fright”), Danish frygt (“fear”), Swedish fruktan (“fear, fright, dread”), Gothic 𐍆𐌰𐌿𐍂𐌷𐍄𐌴𐌹 (faurhtei, “fear, horror, fright”). Compare possibly Albanian frikë (“fear, fright, dread, danger”).

  1. derived from *pr̥k-✻
  2. inherited from *furhtį̄✻
  3. inherited from fryhtu
  4. inherited from fright

Definitions

  1. A state of terror excited by the sudden appearance of danger

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

    • With a bolt of fright he remembered that there was no bathroom in the Hobhouse Room. He leapt along the corridor in a panic, stopping by the long-case clock at the end where he flattened himself against the wall.

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

    • Her maids were old, and if she took a new one, You might be sure she was a perfect fright; She did this during even her husband's life I recommend as much to every wife.

  3. To frighten.

    • Are not you he […] That frights the maidens of the villagery […] ?
    • Little Miss Muffet, She sat on a tuffet, Eating of curds and whey; There came a little spider, Who sat down beside her, And frighted Miss Muffet away.
  4. ›+ 1 more definition

    1. frightened

      frightened; afraid; affright

      • Don't be fright, it is not so impossible as it seems.
      • Don't be fright, I'm not going to hurt you.
      • He had a great heavy jaw and shoulders like an ox and bore no resemblance to Maurice Leonard. 'Come along, lad,' the sergeant said. 'Come along. Don't be fright. It's what you're here for now, ain't it?'

The neighborhood

Derived

affrighten, frightable, frightfest, frightful, frightless, frightly, frightmare, frightment, frightsome, frighty, horsefright, speechfright

Vish — recursive loop

A definitional loop anchored at fright. Each word in the ring is defined by the next; follow the chain far enough and it folds back on itself. Scroll to it and watch.

01fright02frighten03alarmed04panicky05panic

A definitional loop anchored at fright. Each word in the ring appears in the definition of the next; follow the chain far enough and it folds back on itself.

5 hops · closes at fright

curated · pre-corpus. live cycle detection across the full graph is the next major milestone.

sense glosses and etymology drawn from English Wiktionary · source · CC-BY-SA