a sudden intense feeling of fear.
The sudden bang gave everyone a terrible fright.
She screamed in fright when the spider dropped on her.
✦ From Middle English (in the sense ‘frighten’): alteration of Old English fyrht, of Germanic origin; related to Dutch verschrikken and German Furcht.
a person or thing of particularly shocking or frightening appearance.
You look an absolute fright with that hair!
The witch in the costume was a proper fright.
to make someone feel fear or worry
The thunderstorm frightened the little dog.
The bully tried to frighten the new student.
✦ From Middle English friʒten (“to fear, frighten”), from Old English fyrhtan, fyrʒtan (“to frighten, terrify”), from Proto-West Germanic *furihtijan, from Proto-Germanic *furhtijaną (“to fill with fear, terrify”).
