affrighted 1 of 2

adjective

as in frightened
filled with fear or dread the affrighted villagers ran in all directions at the first sight of the monster

Synonyms & Similar Words

Relevance

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

affrighted

2 of 2

verb

past tense of affright
as in scared
to strike with fear a ghastly sight that would affright any person

Synonyms & Similar Words

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

Example Sentences

Recent Examples of Synonyms for affrighted
  1. frightened
  2. scared
  3. terrified
  4. startled
  5. afraid
  6. horrified
  7. alarmed
  8. fearful
Adjective
  • Michael was still frightened and disoriented by what had taken place over spring break.
    — Ruby Cramer, New Yorker, 31 Aug. 2026
  • Roosevelt offered frightened and dispirited Americans a vision of a secure future.
    — John T. Shaw, Chicago Tribune, 31 Aug. 2026
Definition of frightened
Verb
  • Midland Democrat Kathleen Curell worries some of those persuadable voters may be scared off by some of El-Sayed's positions.
    — Sam Gringlas, NPR, 4 Sep. 2026
  • The size of this verdict scared Meta into recently settling a similar case brought by 47 other states for a total that could reach $18 billion.
    — Schuyler Moore, Forbes.com, 30 Aug. 2026
Definition of scared
Adjective
  • Instead, coaches have become more and more terrified through the years of seeing their players getting hurt during largely meaningless games in August.
    — Rob Reischel, Forbes.com, 29 Aug. 2026
  • Tempe police ultimately convinced the couple, who were initially too terrified to report the incident, to share what had happened to them, documents said.
    — Perry Vandell, AZCentral.com, 26 Aug. 2026
Definition of terrified
Verb
  • 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
  • This horror movie mostly just smelled of fake fog from a community theater production and occasionally you were startled by random bursts of air, once again pulling you from the events on screen.
    — Meredith G. White, AZCentral.com, 28 Aug. 2026
Definition of startled
Adjective
  • The Florida International University senior struggled to attend classes and stopped driving – afraid something bad would happen.
    — ABC News, ABC News, 9 Sep. 2026
  • The 6-foot-6, 238-pounder is basically a gigantic receiver who isn’t afraid to put his hand in the dirt and block.
    — Nick Baumgardner, New York Times, 9 Sep. 2026
Definition of afraid
Adjective
  • When Tae-ha starts a fire that erupts into an explosion, a horrified Eun-sae begins to remember her life before amnesia.
    — Kayti Burt, Time, 7 Aug. 2026
  • In one early scene, a horrified Pam stares into her bathroom mirror, covered head to toe in blood.
    — Nick Romano, Entertainment Weekly, 13 July 2026
Definition of horrified
Adjective
  • This week’s soaring temperatures alarmed students and parents of the Torrance Unified School District, where some campuses do not have air conditioning.
    — Karen Garcia, Los Angeles Times, 10 Sep. 2026
  • Some former workers are alarmed that the data sale could possibly harm the public.
    — Ashley Belanger, ArsTechnica, 10 Sep. 2026
Definition of alarmed
Adjective
  • The actors speak quietly, as if fearful of being overheard, whether or not there is anyone around to hear, and often regard one another with pained or stunned expressions.
    — Robert Lloyd, Los Angeles Times, 6 Sep. 2026
  • Iran says wedding struck Iranians were fearful that the new strikes signaled war could restart at full throttle.
    — Kanishka Singh, USA Today, 2 Sep. 2026
Definition of fearful
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

affright
affrighted
affrighting
See all Nearby Words

Cite this Entry

“Affrighted.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/affrighted. Accessed 14 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 empirical

See Definitions and Examples »

Popular in Grammar & Usage

See More

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

A Who’s Who Regarding ‘Who’s’ and ‘Whose’

Why do we use apostrophes to show possession?

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

Why is '-ed' sometimes pronounced at the end of a word?
See More

Popular in Wordplay

See More

9 Words That Sound Like Insults But Aren't

Back to School Vocabulary

Words from the 'Odyssey'

Ye Olde Nincompoop: Old-Fashioned Words for 'Stupid'

14 Phobias You Probably Haven't Heard Of
See More

Popular

See More

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

9 Words That Sound Like Insults But Aren't

Back to School Vocabulary
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
funny guinea pig in glasses reading a book
Challenging Words You Should Know Vol 2 Words to the wise
See All