frightful
17
5.1
- adjective
- /ˈfraɪtfl/
- Yet surely there could have been no other explanation for the frightful accident.
- the most frightful
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Watch on YouTubeThe same thing that was scratched out as the frightful infinite sphere.
- The same thing that was scratched out as the frightful infinite sphere.
- He says, that will open up such terrifying vistas of reality and our frightful position they're in.
- When they discovered him, they doomed him to remain alive forever, carrying the frightful knowledge in his head.
Examples
-
Must be a frightful responsibility sending innocent men out to their death.
-
Narrator: The ghost raised a frightful cry and shook its chains with an awful noise.
Fiction book (1998) -
What a... a frightful sight.
-
"You gave me a frightful scare, Mr. Moon," she said in a very loud voice.
Fiction book (1994) -
- After my parents' passing, I had the most frightful nightmares.
-
A frightful creature, truly!
-
To Defoe, writing in 1724, mountains were "horrid" and the highlands of Scotland were a "frightful country."
Academic text (2002) -
Instantly, Dona Marina was transported into a frightful, unearthly land by the strangeness of these sounds in her kitchen.
Fiction book (1990) -
The horror and confusion of this frightful spectacle were increased by the conflagration of the town in the streets of which deeds of still greater atrocity were going on.
-
I had a frightful nightmare that kept me awake all night.
Synonyms
∞
1.5
Very bad or frightening in a way that makes you feel upset
∞
1.0
Causing fear or making you feel afraid
248
3.0
Causing someone to feel afraid
243
5.3
Making people feel very afraid
200
5.5
Causing great fear or shock
158
6.9
Strange in a way that makes you feel scared or nervous
134
3.7
Very bad and unpleasant, often causing fear or shock
116
3.2
Strange and frightening in a way that makes you feel nervous, like a ghost
103
4.5
Makes people feel very afraid and shocked
85
5.3
Making you feel very scared or worried
84
5.6
Causing shock and strong disgust because it is very bad
79
7.0
Very shocking and scary, causing fear or disgust
77
5.1
A strange, frightening feeling as if ghosts are nearby
63
4.5
Very bad and shocking, causing people to feel fear or sadness
58
1.1
Very frightening and causing fear or dread
47
4.1
A very unpleasant thing that shocks or disgusts you
34
4.8
Very frightening and likely to make people afraid
27
7.3
Very cruel and shocking, causing strong fear
27
1.0
So frightening that people feel afraid
20
2.9
Causing strong fear and worry
16
7.0
Very frightening and unpleasant, like a bad dream
7
7.6
Very cruel and shocking, causing great pain and fear
3
6.7
Strange in a way that makes you feel afraid or uneasy
1
5.1
Making people feel afraid
1
8.5
That makes you shiver with fear
1
9.9
Causing strong fear or disgust that makes you shiver
Making someone feel very afraid
Scaring people with sudden shocks that make them scream
Antonyms
How Horrible
Surface Forms
Morphology
Etymology
Frightful comes from fright ('fear') plus the ending -ful ('full of') and comes from an old English word for 'fear'. So frightful originally meant 'full of fear' or 'causing fear', which is why we use it for something extremely shocking or horrible.