1
: fear excited by sudden danger : alarm
gave me quite a fright
2
: something strange, ugly, or shocking
Synonyms
Examples of fright in a Sentence
Noun
Her eyes were wide with fright.
people in our neighborhood think that that orange and green office building is a hideous fright
Verb
a ghastly sight that would fright even the most stouthearted soul
Recent Examples on the Web
Katie Rife, EW.com, 12 Mar. 2024
The Best True Crime Documentaries to Stream Now There are also tons of other shows that Night Country fans will love, from detective dramas to paranormal frights, shows set in the far north, and more.
—Keith Langston, Peoplemag, 19 Feb. 2024
The vamp doesn't do much besides flash his fangs, making this a good introductory monster movie for young ones who aren't ready for serious frights.
—Danny Horn, EW.com, 6 Oct. 2023
Thrill seekers wait all year to get their fix of spine-tingling frights at Halloween time.
—Molly McArdle, Travel + Leisure, 22 Aug. 2023
What Parents Should Know: As with all the movies in the Ghostbusters franchise, there will light frights and mild violence—but all done with humor.
—Lauren Brown West-Rosenthal, Parents, 5 Feb. 2024
King understands that children’s tales are necessarily often filled with frights, and those elements are not discounted here.
—Peter Rainer, The Christian Science Monitor, 15 Dec. 2023
Tuesday featured some big frights and big delights for investors.
—Heard Editors, WSJ, 1 Nov. 2023
Between Hotel Transylvania and The Addams Family, here are 31 Halloween movies that aren't scary to binge-watch this spooky season
Who says Halloween has to be all fears and frights?
—Skyler Caruso, Peoplemag, 17 Oct. 2023
Jennifer Jolly, USA TODAY, 22 Dec. 2022
Noun
Horror anthologies are a tradition in British cinema, and this collection of bite-sized frights is the granddaddy of them all.
—Katie Rife, EW.com, 12 Mar. 2024
The Best True Crime Documentaries to Stream Now There are also tons of other shows that Night Country fans will love, from detective dramas to paranormal frights, shows set in the far north, and more.
—Keith Langston, Peoplemag, 19 Feb. 2024
The vamp doesn't do much besides flash his fangs, making this a good introductory monster movie for young ones who aren't ready for serious frights.
—Danny Horn, EW.com, 6 Oct. 2023
Thrill seekers wait all year to get their fix of spine-tingling frights at Halloween time.
—Molly McArdle, Travel + Leisure, 22 Aug. 2023
What Parents Should Know: As with all the movies in the Ghostbusters franchise, there will light frights and mild violence—but all done with humor.
—Lauren Brown West-Rosenthal, Parents, 5 Feb. 2024
King understands that children’s tales are necessarily often filled with frights, and those elements are not discounted here.
—Peter Rainer, The Christian Science Monitor, 15 Dec. 2023
Tuesday featured some big frights and big delights for investors.
—Heard Editors, WSJ, 1 Nov. 2023
Between Hotel Transylvania and The Addams Family, here are 31 Halloween movies that aren't scary to binge-watch this spooky season
Who says Halloween has to be all fears and frights?
—Skyler Caruso, Peoplemag, 17 Oct. 2023
Verb
For anyone into sheer terror with a side of entertainment, streaming services like Shudder can fright and delight.
—Jennifer Jolly, USA TODAY, 22 Dec. 2022
These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'fright.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.
Dictionary Entries Near fright
Cite this Entry
“Fright.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/fright. Accessed 19 Apr. 2024.
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