US /əˈfraɪt/ UK /əˈfraɪt/
verb noun

Meanings

  1. 1
    verb

    to frighten or alarm; sudden terror

    The ghostly wail affrighted the weary travelers.

Thesaurus

Synonyms
1 verb · to frighten or alarm;... frightenterrifyalarmscarestartledismayappall
Word family
Derived forms affrightedaffrightment
Related forms frightfrightenafraid

Etymology

From Middle English afright, from Old English afyrht ('frightened'), past participle of afyrhtan ('to terrify'), from a- (intensive) + fyrhtan ('to frighten'), from fyrhto ('fright, fear').

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