affright
English
Pronunciation
Etymology 1
From Middle English afrighten, from Old English āfyrhtan, equivalent to a- + fright.
Noun
affright (plural affrights)
- (archaic) Great fear, terror, fright.
- 1854, The Mysteries of a Convent, page 107:
- No one for a moment dreamed of the possible occurrence of any thing in the course of a few hours which would fill every mind with horror, and cause even the dark-hearted Martina to tremble with affright.
- 1885, Richard F. Burton, The Book of the Thousand Nights and a Night, Night 563:
- […] Then behold, there came up to us a huge fish, as big as a tall mountain, at whose sight we became wild for affright and, weeping sore, made ready for death, marvelling at its vast size and gruesome semblance; when lo! a second fish made its appearance than which we had seen naught more monstrous.
Synonyms
- See also Thesaurus:fear
Verb
affright (third-person singular simple present affrights, present participle affrighting, simple past and past participle affrighted)
- (archaic, transitive) To terrify, to frighten, to inspire fright in.
- c. 1593 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Tragedy of Richard the Third: […]”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act V, scene iii]:
- Let not our babbling dreams affright our souls
- (Can we date this quote by Milton and provide title, author’s full name, and other details?)
- A drear and dying sound / Affrights the flamens at their service quaint.
Synonyms
- See also Thesaurus:frighten
Etymology 2
From Middle English afright, from Old English āfyrht (“terrified; afraid”), past participle of āfyrhtan (“to terrify; make afraid”).
Alternative forms
Adjective
affright (comparative more affright, superlative most affright)
- afraid; terrified; frightened
- 1641, The Whole Booke of Psalmes:
- So that thou shalt not need I say, to feare or be affright, of all the shafts that Hie by day, nor terrours of the night.
- 1856, Mrs. S. C. Hall, Popular tales and sketches, page 29:
- “Do not be afright,” he continued, after a pause; “do not be afright, my dear young ladies, I am quite harmless—a harmless old man—I would not shed a pigeon's blood.
Categories:
- English 2-syllable words
- English terms with IPA pronunciation
- English terms inherited from Middle English
- English terms derived from Middle English
- English terms inherited from Old English
- English terms derived from Old English
- English terms prefixed with a-
- English lemmas
- English nouns
- English countable nouns
- English terms with archaic senses
- English terms with quotations
- English verbs
- English transitive verbs
- Requests for date/Milton
- English adjectives
- en:Fear