as in to frighten
to strike with fear
a ghastly sight that would affright any person
Synonyms & Similar Words
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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
Example Sentences
Recent Examples of Synonyms for affright
Verb
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Most give up halfway, frightened by the warnings of those below.—
Sudhir Gupta,
Forbes.com,
11 Aug. 2025 -
While the notion might frighten fans who have Thursday nights perpetually blocked off on their calendars, shorter episodes could prove beneficial in giving the Critical Role founders a little bit of a break.—
Dana Reboe,
Rolling Stone,
7 Aug. 2025
Verb
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Some, scared off by the complexity of picking a policy and by the price tags, tumble over the edge and go without insurance in a health system where the rate for an emergency room visit can be thousands, if not tens of thousands, of dollars.—
Elisabeth Rosenthal,
Miami Herald,
12 Aug. 2025
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Effectively scaring a bear also reinforces the person as dominant in an encounter, so the bear learns to avoid people.—
Staff report,
Hartford Courant,
9 Aug. 2025
Verb
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Kate Riley: Despondently stalking up and down avenues of Manhattan, scheming of ways to acquire food without paying for it, alienating and terrifying everyone who cared about me, trying to invent toys.—
Teddy Wayne
August 12,
Literary Hub,
12 Aug. 2025
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Autumn Rodman/Reddit At that moment, Rodman was terrified.—
Jack Beresford,
MSNBC Newsweek,
10 Aug. 2025
Verb
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Also, when purchasing hiking gear to wear for gorilla trekking, buy only neutral colors—like army green, khaki, black, and tan — to avoid startling them and drawing extra attention to yourself.—
Claire Gallam,
Travel + Leisure,
23 July 2025
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However, the unexpected authenticity of the situation to her Memphis roots initially startled the artist.—
Marcus K. Dowling,
The Tennessean,
2 July 2025
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Cite this Entry
“Affright.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/affright. Accessed 21 Aug. 2025.
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