1,400 new words in our dictionary! — Parasocial, glow-up, promposal & more
1,400 new words in our dictionary! — More

affright

verb

ə-ˈfrīt How to pronounce affright (audio)
Definition of affrightnext
as in to frighten
to strike with fear a ghastly sight that would affright any person

Synonyms & Similar Words

Relevance

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

Example Sentences

Recent Examples of Synonyms for affright
  1. frighten
  2. scare
  3. terrify
  4. startle
Verb
  • Last Friday, the artist Pink published a lengthy criticism of Macklemore’s on-stage polemic, writing that his comments and use of violent wartime imagery had frightened many Jewish people, including her.
    — Caitlin Dewey, Vox, 16 Sep. 2026
  • However, Stone told Bialik that she was not frightened by the encounter.
    — Ashley Hume, FOXNews.com, 9 Sep. 2026
Definition of frighten
Verb
  • These tours take place during the day, with the lights on and, rather than scare actors, you’ll be joined by a friendly tour guide to walk you through the details of each house.
    — Tarah Chieffi, USA Today, 22 Sep. 2026
  • Elmore says the bear eventually climbed down the side of the truck, and employees scared it away from the area.
    — Christa Swanson, CBS News, 21 Sep. 2026
Definition of scare
Verb
  • One night, Bridget decides to leave after thoroughly terrifying her husband with an ax.
    — Keith Langston, PEOPLE, 19 Sep. 2026
  • Elizabeth Pizzo was terrified earlier this year about what would happen to her son.
    — Jim DeFede, CBS News, 16 Sep. 2026
Definition of terrify
Verb
  • Their approach startled the predator, who took off with the mother godwit in its claws.
    — Rivka Galchen, New Yorker, 14 Sep. 2026
  • While holding Gnocchi, a large street cleaning truck whipped down the street and startled him into clawing away.
    — Emily Tarinelli, Los Angeles Times, 8 Sep. 2026
Definition of startle
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

Browse Nearby Words

affrays
affright
affrighted
See all Nearby Words

Cite this Entry

“Affright.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/affright. Accessed 25 Sep. 2026.

Copy Citation
Last Updated: - Updated example sentences
Love words? Need even more definitions?

Subscribe to America's largest dictionary and get thousands more definitions and advanced search—ad free!

More from Merriam-Webster

Word of the Day

Listen to the pronunciation of tactile

See Definitions and Examples »

Popular in Grammar & Usage

See More

Do You Need a New Language Peeve?

More Commonly Mispronounced Words

Why do we use apostrophes to show possession?

Merriam-Webster’s Great Big List of Words You Love to Hate

'A' or 'an'? What about before 'h'? An Indefinite Article Guide
See More

Popular in Wordplay

See More

The Longest Long Words List

9 Words That Sound Like Insults But Aren't

Back to School Vocabulary

14 Phobias You Probably Haven't Heard Of

The Words of the Week - Sept. 25
See More

Popular

See More

Do You Need a New Language Peeve?

The Longest Long Words List

9 Words That Sound Like Insults But Aren't
See More

Games & Quizzes

See All
Play Quordle: Guess all four words in a limited number of tries. Each of your guesses must be a real 5-letter word.
Quordle Can you solve 4 words at once?
Play Blossom: Solve today's spelling word game by finding as many words as you can using just 7 letters. Longer words score more points.
Blossom Pick the best words!
Play Missing Letter: a crossword with a twist. Each of the 25 puzzle words start with a different letter of the alphabet. Which letter is missing?
The Missing Letter A daily crossword with a twist
image of the words cracker fly and sale arranged in a triangle with the word fire in the middle
Triple Play Quiz Find the word that pairs with each of the three g...
See All