1
as in terrifying
causing fear
a frightful sound emanated from somewhere deep within the forest
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2
as in gruesome
extremely disturbing or repellent
I couldn't listen to the frightful details of the murder trial
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3
as in intense
extreme in degree, power, or effect
flew into a frightful fit of rage
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Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of frightful
The weather outside really isn’t so frightful, with some flakes that melt on your windshield in metro Detroit until the afternoon, then a light dusting, up to two inches Thursday night into Friday morning.
—
Frank Witsil, Detroit Free Press, 18 Dec. 2024
The weather in Middle Tennessee remained frightful Tuesday as the region continued to recover from a major snowstorm that blanketed the Nashville area in as much as 8 inches of snow, left roads treacherous and closed schools and businesses for days.
—Craig Shoup, The Tennessean, 20 Dec. 2024
Halloween may have come and gone, but Hollywood decked out in frightful finery for the premiere of Nosferatu.
—Lawrence Yee, People.com, 13 Dec. 2024
Poe’s great, terrifying symbol, an emblem of lost wandering, absent compassion, and frightful omens, evoked Noah and the Ark and real-life apocalypse.
—Armond White, National Review, 20 Nov. 2024
See all Example Sentences for frightful 
Frank Witsil, Detroit Free Press, 18 Dec. 2024
The weather in Middle Tennessee remained frightful Tuesday as the region continued to recover from a major snowstorm that blanketed the Nashville area in as much as 8 inches of snow, left roads treacherous and closed schools and businesses for days.
—Craig Shoup, The Tennessean, 20 Dec. 2024
Halloween may have come and gone, but Hollywood decked out in frightful finery for the premiere of Nosferatu.
—Lawrence Yee, People.com, 13 Dec. 2024
Poe’s great, terrifying symbol, an emblem of lost wandering, absent compassion, and frightful omens, evoked Noah and the Ark and real-life apocalypse.
—Armond White, National Review, 20 Nov. 2024
See all Example Sentences for frightful
Recent Examples of Synonyms for frightful
Adjective
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Cumberbatch, in a few moments, expresses the depth of this father’s agony, the terrifying chasm of it.—
Owen Gleiberman,
Variety,
26 Jan. 2025
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Six episodes centre on a variety of different dinosaurs, from terrifying carnivores to docile herbivores.—
John Yoo and John Shu,
Newsweek,
23 Jan. 2025
Adjective
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Unlike the gruesome, bloodthirsty creatures of classic films and literature, Cullen and his family abstain from drinking the blood of humans.—
Edward Segarra,
USA TODAY,
27 Jan. 2025
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Shanks brilliantly paces the story out with several pieces of foreshadowing, including a rat king as symbolism for toxic codependency, mirroring a gruesome story Tim tells Millie about his father’s death and his mother’s mental health.—
Glenn Garner,
Deadline,
27 Jan. 2025
Adjective
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In 2019, essayist Sarah Chihaya had a nervous breakdown that coincided with a bout of the titular anxiety disorder, which causes someone to have an intense and irrational fear of books and writing.—
Shannon Carlin,
TIME,
31 Jan. 2025
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Since the event marks the first time the best players from each of the four countries will play each other since the 2014 Winter Olympics, the games are expected to be intense.—
Curtis Pashelka,
The Mercury News,
31 Jan. 2025
Adjective
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Despite this, in 1980, in a turning point that helped give rise to the formidable power of the New Right, Reagan continued to lean heavily on the Panama issue in his successful campaign against Carter.—
Julie Greene / Made by History,
TIME,
22 Jan. 2025
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When Judkins’ 70-yard run set up his 1-yard scoring run for a 28-7 lead, Leonard and the Fighting Irish faced a formidable deficit that couldn’t be addressed on more quarterback keepers.—
Charles Odum,
Chicago Tribune,
21 Jan. 2025
Adjective
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Beloved Hollywood couple Alison Brie and Dave Franco have teamed up on the big screen a handful of times already but their new collaboration tests their coupledom in new and horrific ways.—
Chris Gardner,
The Hollywood Reporter,
26 Jan. 2025
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Fires shine spotlight on power lines Power lines are again drawing the spotlight as a potential cause of the horrific blazes.—
Bart Jansen,
USA TODAY,
24 Jan. 2025
Adjective
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In 2002, the Israeli military occupied the camp after 10 days of intensive fighting, according to the UN, during which time more than 400 houses were destroyed and over a quarter of the camp’s population was displaced.—
Nadeen Ebrahim,
CNN,
24 Jan. 2025
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The initial iteration of the program, launched with partners Nike and Right to Dream, gave six Ghanaian women the chance to participate in a three-month intensive coaches training experience.—
Vitas Carosella,
Forbes,
24 Jan. 2025
Adjective
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This is all frightening enough — and as the hearing revealed, his bogus theories about AIDS, Lyme disease, and a slew of other public health issues make clear Kennedy is no friend of facts or science, and therefore should be utterly disqualified from HHS secretary.—
S.E. Cupp,
New York Daily News,
29 Jan. 2025
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The statistics on underage drinking are frightening, and alcohol does cause death and injury.—
TJ Hutchinson,
The Denver Post,
28 Jan. 2025
Adjective
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While this is terrible for the environment, customer satisfaction, and retailers’ bottom lines, the truth is the industry has created a monster and easy and free returns have become the basic consumer expectation.—
Steve Dennis,
Forbes,
22 Jan. 2025
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Gerulaitis’s gallows humour deflects from the fact that his terrible records against Connors and Borg took a big toll on his confidence.—
Charlie Eccleshare,
The Athletic,
22 Jan. 2025
Thesaurus Entries Near frightful
Cite this Entry
“Frightful.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/frightful. Accessed 4 Feb. 2025.
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