affrighting

verb

present participle of affright
as in frightening
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 affrighting
  1. frightening
  2. scaring
  3. terrifying
  4. startling
Verb
  • For Cox and Walker, the challenge was to introduce horror-film conventions without frightening the franchise’s youngest viewers.
    — Scott Roxborough, HollywoodReporter, 22 Oct. 2026
  • Powell tried to open the stall door, and then began fondling himself, frightening the 11-year-old, who tried to leave, but Powell blocked him from getting out.
    — Todd Feurer, CBS News, 6 June 2026
Definition of frightening
Verb
  • His campaign strategy in the days before the election seemed to rely on scaring the Israeli public into voting for him.
    — Ruth Margalit, New Yorker, 28 Oct. 2026
  • The white whale of American politics seemed in reach until the president spent two years scaring it away.
    — Gabe Fleisher, Washington Post, 26 Oct. 2026
Definition of scaring
Verb
  • The simple act of a child pedaling down empty hotel hallways on a Big Wheel builds anticipation, terrifying us with what may be around each corner.
    — Radhika Seth, Vogue, 29 Oct. 2026
  • Now a ruthless Emperor, Paul must face the consequences of his reign as old allies return, terrifying new threats emerge, and betrayal lurks in every shadow.
    — Jennifer Ouellette, ArsTechnica, 27 Oct. 2026
Definition of terrifying
Verb
  • One of my co-workers tends to blast through this door at top speed, often startling a person reaching for the handle on the other side.
    — Judith Martin, Sun Sentinel, 30 Oct. 2026
  • As if triggered by this thought, the door buzzed itself open, startling the pigeons from wire to wing, a grand scattering.
    — Literary Hub, Literary Hub, 22 Sep. 2026
Definition of startling
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

affrighted
affrighting
affrights
See all Nearby Words

Cite this Entry

“Affrighting.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/affrighting. Accessed 12 Nov. 2026.

Copy Citation
Love words? Need even more definitions?

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

Last Updated: - Updated example sentences

More from Merriam-Webster

Word of the Day

Listen to the pronunciation of gauntlet

See Definitions and Examples »

Popular in Grammar & Usage

See More

How to Use 'Who' vs. 'Whom'

31 Useful Rhetorical Devices

More Commonly Misspelled Words

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

'Affect' vs. 'Effect'
See More

Popular in Wordplay

See More

Great Big List of Beautiful and Useless Words, Vol. 5

9 Words That Sound Like Insults But Aren't

The Longest Long Words List

The Words of the Week - Nov. 13

Even More Bird Names that Sound Like Insults (and Sometimes Are)
See More

Popular

See More

How to Use 'Who' vs. 'Whom'

Great Big List of Beautiful and Useless Words, Vol. 5

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
woman sitting on floor holding book in front of her face on pink background
Famous Novels, Last Lines Quiz Needless to say, spoiler alert.
See All