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
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
Needless to say, those of us who remember 1987 are trembling, and were expecting a frightful jobs report.
—Eli Amdur, Forbes.com, 4 Apr. 2025
Looking up at the sky and seeing the moon turn red can be a frightful but also intriguing sight.
—Monica Cull, Discover Magazine, 4 Mar. 2025
See All Example Sentences for frightful
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
Needless to say, those of us who remember 1987 are trembling, and were expecting a frightful jobs report.
—Eli Amdur, Forbes.com, 4 Apr. 2025
Looking up at the sky and seeing the moon turn red can be a frightful but also intriguing sight.
—Monica Cull, Discover Magazine, 4 Mar. 2025
See All Example Sentences for frightful
Recent Examples of Synonyms for frightful
Adjective
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Philip Bunting’s new picture book uses this tall tale as a starting point for a funny and sweet story about a misunderstood dropbear and a little bird who’s determined to discover if the rumors about Dropbear’s terrifying behavior are true.—
Caroline Carlson
September 2,
Literary Hub,
2 Sep. 2025
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Set largely inside the White House, the film imagines the terrifying scenario of an imminent nuclear missile strike on the United States by an unknown adversary, forcing military and civilian leaders to make impossible decisions under crushing time pressure.—
Patrick Brzeski,
HollywoodReporter,
2 Sep. 2025
Adjective
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His anguished mother insisted on an open-casket ceremony to show the world the gruesome cruelty of lynching.—
Lorenzino Estrada,
AZCentral.com,
29 Aug. 2025
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My dad was the superintendent of schools in that town at the time, and the media's appetite for the gruesome details was insatiable.—
Lee Habeeb,
MSNBC Newsweek,
29 Aug. 2025
Adjective
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Some students and civil libertarians say that widespread surveillance has gone too far, especially in places like Ann Arbor, where protests against the Gaza War have drawn intense police interactions.—
John Wisely,
Freep.com,
31 Aug. 2025
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Any effort to raise the voter threshold this year will face intense pushback from Democrats, who are likely to filibuster the proposal in the state Senate.—
Kacen Bayless,
Kansas City Star,
30 Aug. 2025
Adjective
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The new title partnership deal couldn’t have come at a better time for the financial services giant Mastercard as McLaren is currently in formidable form and is on course to secure its second constructors’ title in a row this season, having won it last year for the first time since 1998.—
Yara Elshebiny,
Forbes.com,
28 Aug. 2025
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Its armor, including a formidable tail club, protected against predators including Tyrannosaurus.—
CNN Money,
CNN Money,
28 Aug. 2025
Adjective
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An initial report of a paralyzed kitten being thrown down a staircase led police in Northern Ohio to a home where officers reported finding 13 young children living in horrific conditions.—
Natalie Neysa Alund,
USA Today,
3 Sep. 2025
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But, really, does enough training exist that would prepare anyone for such a horrific emergency?—
Damon Wise,
Deadline,
3 Sep. 2025
Adjective
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Richard Wrangham’s research shows how cooking allowed humans to access more calories, enabling the expansion of energy-intensive activities like building and creating.—
Scott Hutcheson,
Forbes.com,
1 Sep. 2025
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The goal of the vaccine is to keep people out of the hospital, keep them out of the intensive-care unit, keep them out of the morgue.—
Isaac Chotiner,
New Yorker,
31 Aug. 2025
Adjective
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Thunderstorms and lightning, very very frightening.—
Erik Kain,
Forbes.com,
2 Sep. 2025
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Since the release of 2013's The Conjuring, the frightening franchise has generally lost steam at the box office.—
Ryan Coleman,
EW.com,
1 Sep. 2025
Adjective
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Each player took two bad sacks and threw one terrible interception.—
Tashan Reed,
New York Times,
17 Aug. 2025
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After two terrible weeks, the stock finished this week up almost 1%.—
Morgan Chittum,
CNBC,
16 Aug. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Frightful.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/frightful. Accessed 4 Sep. 2025.
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