fright

B1 Topic:Emotions & Feelings

US /fraɪt/ UK /fɹaɪt/ See IPA manual

Minimal pairs

Sounds like flight /l/ vs /r/

Freq #9121

Meanings

1

noun
A sudden, strong feeling of fear.

The loud bang gave me a terrible fright.
2

verb
To frighten; to make someone afraid.

The thunder frighted the small children.

Verb forms

Verb forms are not available for this word yet.

Thesaurus

Synonyms

1 noun · a sudden, strong feeling of... scare fearfulness

2 verb · to frighten; to make... affright frighten

Word family

Forms frights

Derived forms affrightenfrightablefrightfestfrightfulfrightlessfrightlyfrightmarefrightmentfrightsomefrightyspeechfright

Related forms frighten

Appears in

Phrases (1)

See all

stage fright
fear or nervousness about performing before an audience

Noun + noun

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”).

fright Middle English fryhtu Old English *furhtį̄ Proto-Germanic *pr̥k- Proto-Indo-European

View etymology graph ->

Topics

Emotions & Feelings

External links

# fright

**Type:** Word
**Level:** B1
**Part of speech:** noun, verb
**IPA (US):** /fraɪt/
**IPA (UK):** /fɹaɪt/
**Frequency rank:** 9121

## Meanings
1. A sudden, strong feeling of fear.
2. To frighten; to make someone afraid.

## Examples
- The loud bang gave me a terrible fright.
- The thunder frighted the small children.

## Derived Forms
- affrighten
- frightable
- frightfest
- frightful
- frightless
- frightly
- frightmare
- frightment
- frightsome
- frighty
- speechfright

## Related Forms
- frighten

## Roots and Affixes
- Root: fright
- Root: fryhtu
- Root: *furhtį̄
- Root: *pr̥k-

## 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”).

## AI Etymology
Fright comes 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”). In current use, the main senses are “A sudden, strong feeling of fear” and “To frighten; to make someone afraid”.

## Topics
- Emotions & Feelings

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