frightful

frightful

English

Alternative forms

• frightfull (archaic)

Etymology

From Middle English frightful (“afraid”), from Old English forhtful (“fainthearted, timorous”). Equivalent to fright +‎ -ful.

Pronunciation

• enPR: frīt′fəl, IPA^(key): /ˈfɹaɪtfəl/
• Hyphenation: fright‧ful

• Audio (US)

  (file)

Adjective

frightful (comparative more frightful, superlative most frightful)

1. (obsolete) Full of fright, whether
   1. Afraid, frightened.
      • c. 1250, Genesis and Exodus, line 3459:

        Ðis frigtful ðus a-biden,
        Quiles ðis daiȝes for ben gliden.

   2. Timid, fearful, easily frightened.
      • 1613, William Browne, Britannia's Pastorals:

        See how the frightful herds run from the wood.

2. Full of something causing fright, whether
   1. Genuinely horrific, awful, or alarming.
   2. (hyperbolic) Unpleasant, dreadful, awful (also used as an intensifier).
      • 1990, House of Cards, Season 1, Episode 1:

        Francis Urquhart: What a frightful little man. Where do they find them these days?
        Tim Stamper: God knows. If I had a dog like that, I'd shoot it.
        Francis Urquhart: Well, yes. Quite.

Synonyms

• See Thesaurus:frightening
• See Thesaurus:bad

Derived terms

• frightfully

Translations

full of fright

Bulgarian: уплашен (bg) (uplašen) French: effrayant (fr) Galician: aterrador m

Portuguese: assustador (pt) Turkish: korkulu (tr), korku dolu

full of that which causes fright

Bulgarian: страшен (bg) (strašen), ужасен (bg) (užasen) Greek: Ancient: δασπλῆτις (dasplêtis)

Latin: metūculōsus Spanish: temible Turkish: dehşet (tr), korkunç (tr)

The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables, removing any numbers. Numbers do not necessarily match those in definitions. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout#Translations.

Translations to be checked

Polish: okropny (pl), straszny (pl) m

References

• Webster's, "frightful", 1913.
• Oxford English Dictionary, "frightful, adj.", 1898.

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Middle English

Alternative forms

• frigtful

Etymology

From Old English forhtful; equivalent to fright +‎ -ful.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈfrixtˌful/

Adjective

frightful

1. (rare) afraid, frightened

Descendants

• English: frightful

References

• “frightful (adj.)” in MED Online, Ann Arbor, Mich.: University of Michigan, 2007, retrieved 2018-04-05.