Affrighting

Part of speech: adjective, verb

Definitions

1. To cause someone to experience extreme terror or fear
2. Producing a strong sense of fear that overwhelms and unsettles someone
3. Inducing a deep feeling of dread or fright that startles the mind

Etymology: The core of this word is the ordinary noun "fright," which Old English already had as "fyrhto," meaning fear or terror. The prefix "a-" (from Old English "ā-") was attached to the verb to intensify it, so "āfyrhtan" meant to terrify or make afraid thoroughly. Over time the "a-" fell away from the everyday verb "frighten," but "affright" survived as a more literary, emphatic choice. The participle "āfyrht" was used in Old English to mean terrified or afraid, and that adjectival sense carried into Middle English as "afright." The present form "affrighting" describes something that causes this kind of thorough alarm, the sort of fear that unsettles the mind rather than just making someone flinch.

Synonyms: frightening, scaring, terrifying, alarmingly, startling

Antonyms: comforting, calming, soothing, reassuring, encouraging