What does affright mean?
'Affright' is a largely literary English word meaning to frighten or terrify someone suddenly, filling them with alarm or dread. It can also function as a noun describing the resulting state of sudden fear, as when an old text speaks of someone being 'in great affright'. Derived from Old English roots shared with 'fright' and connected historically to words like 'afraid' and 'affray', the verb was common in earlier centuries and appears frequently in Shakespeare and the King James Bible, often in scenes of ghosts, storms, and divine visitations. Today it is considered archaic: modern writers overwhelmingly choose 'frighten', 'scare', or 'terrify' instead. Nevertheless, 'affright' remains useful for readers of classic literature and for writers seeking an elevated, period flavour, since its very antiquity lends prose a dramatic, old-world gravity that plainer synonyms cannot supply.
To frighten or terrify suddenly; to fill with alarm or dread.
"The apparition affrighted the watchman so badly that he fled the building."
Transitive and now archaic; usually found in literary or historical contexts.
A state of sudden terror or frightened alarm.
"They stood in great affright as the storm broke over the moor."
Rare today; encountered chiefly in older literature.
Very rare; the plural appears only occasionally in older texts.
"The chronicle records many affrights visited upon the village that winter."
Shakespeare used 'affright' so often that the word now feels inseparable from ghosts, storms, and midnight terrors — yet it simply means to scare someone.
Reviewed by Deb Chak, Editor. AI-assisted content curated by RJS Tech Solutions LLP.
Etymology of affright
'Affright' descends from the Old English verb 'āfyrhtan', meaning to frighten, formed on the Germanic root that also yields 'fright' itself. In Middle English the word was reinforced by forms influenced by Old French 'esfrayer', the same source that gave English 'affray' and, through it, 'afraid'. It has been part of English since the earliest periods and flourished through the Renaissance, appearing constantly in Shakespeare and early translations of the Bible, before gradually falling out of everyday use.
Related word forms
How affright is actually used
'Affright' is archaic or highly literary in modern usage; contemporary writing almost always prefers 'frighten', 'scare', or 'terrify'. It survives mainly in quotations of older literature, poetry, and deliberately period-styled prose. When used as a noun, it typically appears in older texts as 'in (great) affright'.
Easily confused with affright
'Afraid' describes the state of feeling fear oneself, while 'affright' is chiefly an act of causing that fear in someone else.