affright
/əˈfɹaɪt/
affright noun: great fear, terror, fright.
Noun
affright (countable and uncountable, plural affrights)
- Great fear, terror, fright.
- No one for a moment dreamed of the possible occurrence of any thing in the course of a few hours which would fill every mind with horror, and cause even the dark-hearted Martina to tremble with affright.1854, The Mysteries of a Convent, page 107
- […]Then behold, there came up to us a huge fish, as big as a tall mountain, at whose sight we became wild for affright and, weeping sore, made ready for death, marvelling at its vast size and gruesome semblance; when lo! a second fish made its appearance than which we had seen naught more monstrous.1885, Richard F. Burton, The Book of the Thousand Nights and a Night, Night 563
Verb
affright (third-person singular simple present affrights, present participle affrighting, simple past and past participle affrighted)
- To inspire fright in; to frighten, to terrify.
- VVith ſcoffes and ſcornes, and contumelious taunts, / In open Market-place produc't they me, / To be a publique ſpectacle to all: / Here, ſayd they, is the Terror of the French, / The Scar-Crovv that affrights our Children ſo.1591 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The First Part of Henry the Sixt”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward]...
- Let not our babbling dreams affright our soulsc. 1593 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Tragedy of Richard the Third: […]”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and...
Adjective
affright (comparative more affright, superlative most affright)
- afraid; terrified; frightened
- So that thou shalt not need I say, to feare or be affright, of all the shafts that Hie by day, nor terrours of the night.1641, The Whole Booke of Psalmes
- “Do not be afright,” he continued, after a pause; “do not be afright, my dear young ladies, I am quite harmless—a harmless old man—I would not shed a pigeon's blood.1856, Mrs. S. C. Hall, Popular tales and sketches, page 29
affright meaning in Tamil and Urdu
affright in Tamil
- பயமுறுத்து, அச்சமூட்டு, பயம், அச்சம், கிலி, திகில்
affright in Urdu
- ہول, دہشت, ڈر, خوف, ڈرانا, خَوفزَدَہ کَرنا
Synonyms of affright
- alarm
- appall
- dismay
- frighten
- give someone the shits
- harrow
- horrify
- make someone's blood run cold
- mortify
- petrify
11 more synonymsFewer synonyms
- scare
- scare straight
- scare the bejeebers out of
- scare the hell out of
- scare the pants off of
- scare the shit out of
- terrorize
- terrify
- spook
- fray
- grill
Forms of affright
| Noun | |
|---|---|
| plural | affrights |
| Verb | |
| third-person singular present | affrights |
| present participle | affrighting |
| past participle | affrighted |
| past | affrighted |
| Adjective | |
| comparative | more affright |
| superlative | most affright |
| alternative form | afright |
Origin of affright
From Middle English afrighten, from Old English āfyrhtan, equivalent to a- + fright.
From Middle English afright, from Old English āfyrht (“terrified; afraid”), past participle of āfyrhtan (“to terrify; make afraid”).
Words formed from affright
Words that rhyme with affright
48 more rhymesFewer rhymes
- knight
- slight
- Dwight
- height
- sight
- night
- sprite
- fight
- parasite
- site
- alight
- smite
- all right
- blight
- might
- mite
- skite
- cite
- indite
- lite
- outright
- plight
- bight
- excite
- ignite
- invite
- overnight
- uptight
- wight
- accite
- alright
- benight
- bewrite
- blite
- copyright
- despite
- dight
- disunite
- finite
- flite
- hight
- incite
- recite
- relight
- rewrite
- sleight
- spite
- spright
Questions about affright
- What does affright mean?
- Affright means great fear, terror, fright.
- What is affright in Tamil?
- Affright in Tamil is பயமுறுத்து, அச்சமூட்டு, பயம். See Affright meaning in Tamil.
- What part of speech is affright?
- Affright can be a noun, a verb or an adjective.
- How do you pronounce affright?
- Affright is pronounced /əˈfɹaɪt/.
- What is the plural of affright?
- The plural of affright is affrights.
Words near affright in the dictionary
Source and license
Adapted from Wiktionary: affright (page history and authors); affright (Tamil Wiktionary) (page history and authors); affright (Urdu Wiktionary) (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.
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Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: LL-Q1860 (eng)-Vealhurl-affright.wav.
Cite this entry: “affright.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/affright. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.