frightful

frightful
I
(New American Roget's College Thesaurus)
adj. horrible, shocking; informal, unpleasant, disagreeable. See fear, ugliness.
II
(Roget's IV) modif.
1. [Causing fright]
Syn. fearful, awful, dreadful, horrifying, frightening, terrifying, alarming, scary, horrible, terrible, awesome, awe-inspiring, direful, gruesome, traumatic, ghastly, grisly, macabre, lurid, petrifying, unnerving, hair-raising, bloodcurdling, nightmarish, shocking, repellent, harrowing, appalling, horrific, atrocious, unspeakable, inconceivable, ominous, portentous, fearsome, dismaying, demoralizing, disturbing, disquieting, eerie, weird, uncanny, spooky*, creepy*.
Ant. charming*, reassuring, alluring.
2. [Very bad or unpleasant]
Syn. calamitous, shocking, terrible, horrendous; see offensive 2 .
III
(Roget's Thesaurus II) adjective 1. Very bad: appalling, awful, dreadful, fearful, ghastly, horrendous, horrible, shocking, terrible. See GOOD. 2. Causing or able to cause fear: appalling, dire, direful, dreadful, fearful, fearsome, formidable, ghastly, redoubtable, scary, terrible, tremendous. See FEAR.

English dictionary for students. 2013.

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Synonyms:
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Look at other dictionaries:

  • Frightful — Fright ful, a. 1. Full of fright; affrighted; frightened. [Obs.] [1913 Webster] See how the frightful herds run from the wood. W. Browne. [1913 Webster] 2. Full of that which causes fright; exciting alarm; impressing terror; shocking; as, a… …   The Collaborative International Dictionary of English

  • frightful — [adj2] offensive annoying, awful, bad, calamitous, disagreeable, dreadful, extreme, ghastly, great, hideous, horrible, insufferable, lewd, shocking, terrible, terrific, unpleasant, vile, wicked, wrong; concepts 529,545 Ant. delightful, gentle,… …   New thesaurus

  • frightful — [frīt′fəl] adj. 1. causing fright; terrifying; alarming 2. shocking; terrible 3. Informal a) unpleasant; annoying b) great [in a frightful hurry] frightfully adv. frightfulness n …   English World dictionary

  • frightful — index deplorable, disastrous, formidable, insufferable, loathsome, ominous, portentous (ominous) …   Law dictionary

  • frightful — (adj.) mid 13c., timid; c.1600 alarming; from FRIGHT (Cf. fright) + FUL (Cf. ful). In common with most ful adjectives, it once had both an active and passive sense. Meaning dreadful, horrible, shocking (often hyperbolic) is attested from c.1700;… …   Etymology dictionary

  • frightful — dreadful, *fearful, awful, terrible, terrific, horrible, horrific, shocking, appalling Analogous words: *ghastly, grisly, gruesome, macabre, grim, lurid: *sinister, baleful, malign …   New Dictionary of Synonyms

  • frightful — ► ADJECTIVE 1) very unpleasant, serious, or shocking. 2) informal terrible; awful. DERIVATIVES frightfully adverb frightfulness noun …   English terms dictionary

  • frightful — [[t]fra͟ɪtfʊl[/t]] 1) ADJ GRADED Frightful means very bad or unpleasant. [OLD FASHIONED] My father was unable to talk about the war, it was so frightful. Syn: terrible 2) ADJ: ADJ n (emphasis) Frightful is used to emphasize the extent or degree… …   English dictionary

  • frightful — frightfully, adv. frightfulness, n. /fruyt feuhl/, adj. 1. such as to cause fright; dreadful, terrible, or alarming: A frightful howl woke us. 2. horrible, shocking, or revolting: The storm did frightful damage. 3. Informal. unpleasant;… …   Universalium

  • frightful — fright•ful [[t]ˈfraɪt fəl[/t]] adj. 1) such as to cause fright; dreadful, terrible, or alarming: a frightful explosion[/ex] 2) horrible, shocking, or revolting: The storm did frightful damage[/ex] 3) inf unpleasant; disagreeable: We had a… …   From formal English to slang

  • frightful — adjective Full of that which causes fright; exciting alarm; impressing terror; shocking; as, a frightful chasm, or tempest; a frightful appearance. We wasted a frightful amount of money on renovations. Syn: terrible, dreadful, alarming, fearful,… …   Wiktionary

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