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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Examples 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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Ten people were murdered in the New York City subway system last year — including the recent, random and gruesome immolation of a homeless New Jersey woman asleep on a Brooklyn train — up from five murders in 2023.—
Evan Simko-Bednarski,
New York Daily News,
16 Jan. 2025
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Did Hawthorne base these characters on the Rev. Ephraim Avery and his young congregant Sarah Maria Cornell, whose gruesome death in 1832 in Fall River, 50 miles south of Boston, shocked all of New England?—
Liesl Schillinger,
New York Times,
10 Jan. 2025
Adjective
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The Chiefs tallied another three points from Butker as both defenses were noticeably intense and solid as the first quarter ended 6-3 Kansas City.—
Kevin Dotson,
CNN,
19 Jan. 2025
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The single performs even better on the Hard Rock Digital Song Sales chart, which is compiled in the same way as the Rock Digital Song Sales list, only the focus is exclusively on the more intense, harder style of the genre.—
Hugh McIntyre,
Forbes,
19 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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Defensive line coach Andre Patterson actually had the audacity during an early December interview to blame the secondary for the team’s horrific run defense while skirting blame for the line.—
Pat Leonard,
New York Daily News,
15 Jan. 2025
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This individual’s conduct and language were vile, disgusting, unacceptable, and horrific and have no place in our workplace and society.—
Ryan Gaydos,
Fox News,
15 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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Listen to this article California’s blazing wildfires and last year’s destructive hurricanes in the Southeast are frightening examples of the dramatic impacts of climate change.—
Adriana Pérez,
Chicago Tribune,
20 Jan. 2025
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Coming full circle, the FBI also warned users to beware this frightening new threat in a special advisory last month.—
Zak Doffman,
Forbes,
18 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 30 Jan. 2025.
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