Antonyms for frightful


Grammar : Adj
Spell : frahyt-fuhl
Phonetic Transcription : ˈfraɪt fəl


Definition of frightful

Origin :
  • mid-13c., "timid;" c.1600 "alarming;" from fright + -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; Johnson noted it as "a cant word among women for anything unpleasing." Related: Frightfully.
  • adj offensive
Example sentences :
  • All her thought was how to get him away from the frightful place.
  • Extract from : « Weighed and Wanting » by George MacDonald
  • It was rather a frightful place to go into in search of the source of a shriek.
  • Extract from : « Weighed and Wanting » by George MacDonald
  • There was a frightful grin of triumph twisting his mouth in this minute of punishment.
  • Extract from : « Within the Law » by Marvin Dana
  • Down almost to our own day the depredations of wolves were frightful.
  • Extract from : « The Roof of France » by Matilda Betham-Edwards
  • For about five minutes it was the most frightful scene I have ever witnessed.
  • Extract from : « Ridgeway » by Scian Dubh
  • This was a very odd and frightful sort of figure, as you may well believe.
  • Extract from : « The Three Golden Apples » by Nathaniel Hawthorne
  • And if I obeyed, to what delightful discoveries or frightful dangers might it lead?
  • Extract from : « Green Mansions » by W. H. Hudson
  • The girl, too, saw the frightful creatures that surrounded the man upon the deck.
  • Extract from : « The Monster Men » by Edgar Rice Burroughs
  • He practices a frightful dance, and remarks at intervals, "Jewhillikins."
  • Extract from : « Punchinello, Vol. 1, No. 12, June 18, 1870 » by Various
  • It must be the frightful rain which has silenced the boy so!
  • Extract from : « Moni the Goat-Boy » by Johanna Spyri

Synonyms for frightful

Based on : Thesaurus.com - Gutenberg.org - Dictionary.com - Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019