Affright

Part of speech: verb

Pronunciation: /əˈfɹaɪt/

Definitions

1. To evoke a sudden sense of fear or anxiety is to startle an individual unexpectedly
2. To cause someone to experience a quick, intense feeling of fear
3. To make an individual feel alarmed or scared in an instant

Etymology: Affright is a survivor of a much larger family of "a-" verbs that English once had in abundance. It comes from Old English "āfyrhtan," meaning "to terrify, make afraid," built from the prefix "a-," which intensified or completed the action, and "fyrhtan," the verb behind the modern "fright." The surprising twist is that the word's older form was itself a past participle: the adjective "āfyrht" meant "terrified" or "afraid," and English speakers later turned that participle back into a verb, a process that produced the form we use now. Over the centuries, "affright" has been more poetic than everyday. It was common in Middle English and survived in older literary and biblical-style English, where it sounded more formal than "frighten," the verb that eventually took over the everyday role. The "a-" prefix that once made such verbs feel dramatic is now almost entirely gone from English, so "affright" stands out as one of the few remaining examples.

Synonyms: frighten, scare, alarm, startle, terrify

Antonyms: calm, comfort, soothe, reassure, pacify