affright
To greatly startle
Affright is an archaic or literary word meaning to frighten or terrify: The sudden thunder affrighted the horses.
As a noun, it means a state of fear or alarm.
The word survives mainly in poetry and deliberately old-fashioned prose, having been largely displaced by frighten and fright in everyday speech.
Extreme, overwhelming fear
- dreadIntense anticipatory fear
- fearEmotional response to threat
- horrorExtreme fear or disgust
- panicUncontrollable sudden fear
trepidation · apprehension · alarm · dismay · consternation · perturbation · agitation · distress
Shake from fear
- shudderConvulsive trembling from fear
- quiverTrembling or arrow case
- shiverInvoluntary trembling sensation
- quakeSeismic ground trembling
pallor · sweat · paralysis · freeze · recoil · flinch · startle · gasp
Ghostly threatening presence
- phantomInsubstantial apparition
- apparitionVisible supernatural manifestation
- monsterFrightening imaginary creature
- ghoulUndead flesh-eating demon
wraith · fiend · nightmare · horror · menace · threat · haunting · visitation
Belonging to earlier times
- poeticOf or like verse
- gothicDark, mysterious aesthetic
- melodramaSensational, emotionally overwrought drama
- victorianOf 19th-century Britain
antiquated · dramatic · theatrical · exclamation · declamation · romantic · verse · prose
terror
Extreme, overwhelming fear
panic · trepidation · apprehension · alarm · dismay · consternation · perturbation · agitation · distress · anguish
tremble
Shake from fear
- shudderConvulsive trembling from fear
- quiverTrembling or arrow case
- shiverInvoluntary trembling sensation
quake · pallor · sweat · paralysis · freeze · recoil · flinch · startle · gasp · shriek
specter
Ghostly threatening presence
- phantomInsubstantial apparition
- apparitionVisible supernatural manifestation
- monsterFrightening imaginary creature
ghoul · wraith · fiend · nightmare · horror · menace · threat · haunting · visitation · omen
archaic
Belonging to earlier times
- poeticOf or like verse
- gothicDark, mysterious aesthetic
- melodramaSensational, emotionally overwrought drama
victorian · antiquated · dramatic · theatrical · exclamation · declamation · romantic · verse · prose · elizabethan