Frightful

3 definitions found

From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 [gcide]:

  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 frightful chasm, or
        tempest; a frightful appearance.
  
     Syn: Terrible; dreadful; alarming; fearful; terrific; awful;
          horrid; horrible; shocking.
  
     Usage: {Frightful}, {Dreadful}, {Awful}. These words all
            express fear. In frightful, it is a sudden emotion; in
            dreadful, it is deeper and more prolonged; in awful,
            the fear is mingled with the emotion of awe, which
            subdues us before the presence of some invisible
            power. An accident may be frightful; the approach of
            death is dreadful to most men; the convulsions of the
            earthquake are awful.
            [1913 Webster]

From WordNet (r) 2.0 [wn]:

  frightful
       adj 1: provoking horror; "an atrocious automobile accident"; "a
              frightful crime of decapitation"; "an alarming, even
              horrifying, picture"; "war is beyond all words
              horrible"- Winston Churchill; "an ugly wound" [syn: {atrocious},
               {horrifying}, {horrible}, {ugly}]
       2: extreme in degree; "in a frightful hurry"; "spent a
          frightful amount of money"
       3: extremely distressing; "fearful slum conditions"; "a
          frightful mistake"; "suffered terrible thirst" [syn: {fearful},
           {terrible}]

From Moby Thesaurus II by Grady Ward, 1.0 [moby-thes]:

  60 Moby Thesaurus words for "frightful":
     abhorrent, abominable, alarming, appalling, atrocious, awful,
     awing, chilling, daunting, deadly, deterrent, deterring,
     disagreeable, disconcerting, discouraging, disheartening,
     dismaying, disquieting, dreadful, fear-inspiring, fearful,
     fearsome, forbidding, formidable, foul, frightening, ghastly,
     grisly, gruesome, hideous, horrendous, horrible, horrid, horrific,
     horrifying, howling, loathsome, lurid, macabre, nasty, nauseating,
     nauseous, offensive, overawing, repelling, repugnant, repulsive,
     revolting, rousing, scaring, scary, shocking, startling, terrible,
     terrific, thumping, ugly, unspeakable, vile, whacking