fright
n. C / Un. a sudden feeling of fear or shock. You often use it when something unexpected happens that makes you jump.
n. a sudden intense feeling of fear or alarm. Often refers to the physical reaction to a startling event.
The loud bang gave me a real fright.
The sudden appearance of a deer in the middle of the road gave the driver a terrible fright.
While the movie relied heavily on cheap jump scares to give the audience a fright, the underlying psychological tension was what truly resonated with the critics.
From Middle English fright, furht, from Old English fryhtu, fyrhto (“fright, fear, dread, trembling, horrible sight”), from Proto-Germanic furhtį̄ (“fear”), from Proto-Indo-European pr̥k- (“to fear”). Cognate with Scots fricht (“fright”), Old Frisian fruchte (“fright”), Low German frucht (“fright”), Middle Dutch vrucht, German Furcht (“fear, fright”), Danish frygt (“fear”), Swedish fruktan (“fear, fright, dread”), Gothic 𐍆𐌰𐌿𐍂𐌷𐍄𐌴𐌹 (faurhtei, “fear, horror, fright”). Compare possibly Albanian frikë (“fear, fright, dread, danger”).
Probably short for affright, from Middle English afright, from Old English āfyrht, past participle of āfyrhtan (“to make afraid; terrify”).
Commonly used in the phrase 'give someone a fright' or 'get a fright'.
I was very frightI was very frightenedLearners often use the noun 'fright' when they need the adjective 'frightened' to describe their feelings.