1
as in terrifying
causing fear
a frightful sound emanated from somewhere deep within the forest
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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
2
as in gruesome
extremely disturbing or repellent
I couldn't listen to the frightful details of the murder trial
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3
as in intense
extreme in degree, power, or effect
flew into a frightful fit of rage
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Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of frightful
After a serious heart issue – a 100% blockage in the widowmaker artery – and a frightful ambulance ride, Rogers started to take stock of his life.
—
Oliver Brandt, MSNBC Newsweek, 19 May 2025
Give a listen to a tale well told, get your home ready for spring, have a frightful weekend, pick up a free comic book or celebrate in character a galaxy far, far away.
—John Coffren, Baltimore Sun, 1 May 2025
What the Voice of the People is saying is: ‘Look at that frightful ass Spode swanking about in footer bags.
—Michael Hiltzik, Los Angeles Times, 18 Apr. 2025
Moments after the game begins, a frightful hurricane takes young Hazel Flood’s home.
—Harold Goldberg, New York Times, 8 Apr. 2025
See All Example Sentences for frightful
Oliver Brandt, MSNBC Newsweek, 19 May 2025
Give a listen to a tale well told, get your home ready for spring, have a frightful weekend, pick up a free comic book or celebrate in character a galaxy far, far away.
—John Coffren, Baltimore Sun, 1 May 2025
What the Voice of the People is saying is: ‘Look at that frightful ass Spode swanking about in footer bags.
—Michael Hiltzik, Los Angeles Times, 18 Apr. 2025
Moments after the game begins, a frightful hurricane takes young Hazel Flood’s home.
—Harold Goldberg, New York Times, 8 Apr. 2025
See All Example Sentences for frightful
Recent Examples of Synonyms for frightful
Adjective
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The device sounded terrifying – an apparently new, nuclear capable IRBM, fired with multiple conventional warheads, that the Kremlin boasted could rip through European defenses.—
Nick Paton Walsh,
CNN Money,
30 Sep. 2025
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He’s supposed to be a terrifying mirror to our discontent.—
Emily Temple
September 30,
Literary Hub,
30 Sep. 2025
Adjective
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Gein committed many gruesome crimes, but cannibalism was not one of them.—
Christopher Rudolph,
PEOPLE,
4 Oct. 2025
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But one photo, far less gruesome, has been gnawing at me for weeks.—
Ruth Margalit,
New Yorker,
4 Oct. 2025
Adjective
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During periods of intense rainfall, the risk of flooding increases, particularly in low-lying and flood-prone areas.—
CA Weather Bot,
Sacbee.com,
4 Oct. 2025
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Safdie perceptively locates the protagonist’s troubling inner contradictions—the atavistic fury that drives him to compete and the intense self-control that competition demands—but dramatizes such outer crises as opioid addiction and conflict with his girlfriend (Emily Blunt) only schematically.—
Vince Aletti,
New Yorker,
3 Oct. 2025
Adjective
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If the past offers any guide, however, Havana will instead continue to rely on its formidable security apparatus to repress is citizens, while privatizing in ways that do not threaten the power and privileges of the elite.—
Joseph J. Gonzalez,
The Conversation,
3 Oct. 2025
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The West will be formidable, as multiple teams could make their mark this season.—
Ricardo Klein,
MSNBC Newsweek,
3 Oct. 2025
Adjective
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Those bots have attracted lawsuits in horrific instances where users lost their grip on reality or took their own lives after interacting with them.—
Jim Edwards,
Fortune,
1 Oct. 2025
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Many of the base’s survivors have similarly described the singularly horrific nature of those 45 square miles in eastern Cuba.—
Miriam Pensack,
The Dial,
30 Sep. 2025
Adjective
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All applicants must be over 18 and able to attend an in-person intensive from May 27th to June 1st, 2026, at a private resort in Lake Arrowhead, California.—
Matt Grobar,
Deadline,
26 Sep. 2025
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What To Know The Lawsuit A yeshiva is a Jewish religious school, typically for boys, that focuses on intensive study of sacred texts such as the Torah and Talmud, with varying amounts of general secular education depending on the community.—
Robert Alexander,
MSNBC Newsweek,
25 Sep. 2025
Adjective
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The steaks cost about $40, compared to a frightening $60-$70 at chain restaurants.—
Bud Kennedy,
Fort Worth Star-Telegram,
29 Sep. 2025
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And that’s kind of a frightening thing.—
Kate Bradshaw,
Mercury News,
29 Sep. 2025
Adjective
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Our prayers are with the victims and their families during this terrible tragedy.—
Hollie Silverman,
MSNBC Newsweek,
28 Sep. 2025
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Rather, the wretched truth is a reminder that history’s wins are often, if not always, accompanied by terrible loss — that, sometimes, what was cast as victory may have actually been defeat.—
Andrea Williams,
Nashville Tennessean,
27 Sep. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Frightful.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/frightful. Accessed 6 Oct. 2025.
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