fright

n.

1. Sudden intense fear, as of something immediately threatening; alarm. See synonyms at fear.
2. Informal. Something extremely unsightly, alarming, or strange: Brush your hair; you look a fright.

tr.v. Archaic, fright·ed, fright·ing, frights.
To frighten.

[Middle English, from Old English fyrhto, fryhto. V., from Middle English frighten, to frighten, be afraid, from Old English fyrhtan.]

noun

1. Great agitation and anxiety caused by the expectation or the realization of danger: affright, alarm, apprehension, dread, fear, fearfulness, funk, horror, panic, terror, trepidation. Slang cold feet. Idioms: fear and trembling. See fear/courage.
2. An unsightly object: mess, monstrosity, ugliness. Informal sight, ugly. See beautiful/ugly.

verb

To fill with fear: affright, alarm, frighten, panic, scare, scarify², startle, terrify, terrorize. Idioms: make one's blood run cold, make one's hair stand on end, scaresillystiff, scare the daylights out of. See fear/courage.

n

Definition: extreme apprehension
Antonyms: bravery, courage, fearlessness

n

Definition: horrifying sight
Antonyms: beauty

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Fright, a state of sudden, extreme fear, is provoked either by a situation experienced as an external danger or by the feeling of a high probability of danger. Situations capable of causing fright are often associated with a risk of physical or mental death.

The term fright appeared in the Freudian corpus for the first time in the "Preliminary communication" (Breuer and Freud, 1893a) to the Studies on Hysteria (1895d). In this paper Freud evokes the links between certain forms of hysteria and traumatic neurosis, combined in the term traumatic hysteria. Unlike the physical expression of hysteria, the affect of fright is mental trauma.

In a clinical context, fright is accompanied by a state of shock and stupor or, more rarely, by disordered agitation. But ever since Freud, psychoanalytic clinical practice and theory have always emphasized the passivity of fright and total lack of preparedness of the subject in the face of the situation, which are due as much to the totally unforeseeable nature of the event as to the potential for concrete danger. It is in this sense that fright must be differentiated from fear (a concept implying a definite object) and anxiety (a central psychoanalytic concept connoting the anxious expectation of an external or internal danger that needs to be confronted). As with many concepts, this distinction between internal and external is primarily metaphoric. For example, "sexual fright" designates a cataclysmic eruption that has a disorganizing effect on the subject's mental life. Fright is associated with the splitting of the ego, the castration complex, and the perception of reality.

In light of the distinctions above, the concept of fright deserves a place in modern psychoanalysis, for it allows psychoanalysts to accurately assign theoretical and clinical categories and to avoid terminological ambiguity.

Bibliography

Barrois, Claude. (1988). Les névroses traumatiques. Paris: Dunod.

Freud, Sigmund. (1923d [1922]). A seventeenth-century demonological neurosis. SE, 19: 67-105.

——. (1926d [1925]). Inhibitions, symptoms and anxiety. SE, 20: 75-172.

——. (1940c [1922]). Medusa's head. SE, 18: 273-274.

Freud, Sigmund, and Breuer, Josef. (1893a). On the psychical mechanism of hysterical phenomena: Preliminary communication. SE, 2: 1-17.

—CLAUDE BARROIS

IN BRIEF: n. - An emotion experienced in anticipation of some specific pain or danger (usually accompanied by a desire to flee or fight). v. - Cause fear in.

People die of fright and live of confidence.

Tutor's tip: They had a terrible "fright" (extreme or sudden terror) when their car stalled on the tracks with a train loaded with "freight" (cargo) was bearing down on them.

Dansk (Danish)
n. - skræk, forskrækkelse, rædsel
v. tr. - skræmme

idioms:

• frighten away    skræmme væk
• frighten into    skræmme til at gøre noget
• frighten off    skræmme væk
• frighten someone out of their wits    skræmme fra vid og sans
• frighten the life out of    skræmme livet af nogen
• frightened to death    skræmt til døde
• give someone a fright    skræmme nogen
• take fright    blive skræmt
• the fright of one's life    en kæmpeforskrækkelse

Nederlands (Dutch)
schrik, angst, iets schrikwekkends, doen schrikken, vrees inboezemen iemand laten schrikken

Français (French)
n. - peur, frayeur, horreur, effroi, épouvantail
v. tr. - faire peur, effaroucher (qn/qch)

idioms:

• frighten away    effaroucher (qn/qch)
• frighten into    terroriser
• frighten off    effaroucher, chasser
• frighten someone out of their wits    faire une peur bleue à qn
• frighten the life out of    faire une peur bleue à qn
• frightened to death    être mort de peur
• give someone a fright    faire peur à qn, effrayer qn
• take fright    prendre peur
• the fright of one's life    la peur de sa vie

Deutsch (German)
n. - Schrecken, Scheusal
v. - erschrecken

idioms:

• frighten away    vertreiben
• frighten into    jmdm. solche Angst machen, daß er etwas tut
• frighten off    abschrecken
• frighten someone out of their wits    jmdm. Todesangst einjagen, jmdn. furchtbar erschrecken
• frighten the life out of    jmdn. zu Tode erschrecken
• frightened to death    sich zu Tode erschrecken
• give someone a fright    jdm einen Schrecken einjagen
• take fright    Angst bekommen
• the fright of one's life    der Schreck seines Lebens

Ελληνική (Greek)
n. - τρομάρα, τρόμος, φόβος, κοψοχόλιασμα, (καθομ.) ασκημάνθρωπος, σκιάχτρο
v. - τρομοκρατώ

idioms:

• frighten away    διώχνω με απειλή ή εκφοβισμό, τρέπω σε (έντρομη φυγή)
• frighten into    πειθαναγκάζω να/σε
• frighten off    διώχνω, με απειλή ή εκφοβισμό, τρέπω σε (έντρομη φυγή)
• frighten someone out of their wits    τρελαίνω κάποιον από φόβο
• frighten the life out of    κατατρομάζω
• frightened to death    κατατρομαγμένος
• give someone a fright    κοψοχολιάζω
• take fright    τρομάζω, κοψοχολιάζω
• the fright of one's life    μεγάλη τρομάρα, κοψοχόλιασμα

Italiano (Italian)
spavento

idioms:

• frighten away    far scappare
• frighten into    costringere
• frighten off    far scappare
• frighten someone out of their wits    spaventare a morte
• frighten the life out of    spaventare a morte
• take fright    spaventarsi
• the fright of one's life    una paura tremenda

Português (Portuguese)
n. - pavor (m), pessoa (f) grotesca
v. - apavorar

idioms:

• frighten away    afugentar
• frighten into    forçar por ameaça
• frighten off    afugentar
• frighten someone out of their wits    horrorizar
• frighten the life out of    horrorizar
• give someone a fright    provocar pânico
• take fright    entrar em pânico
• the fright of one's life    experiência (f) mais assustadora

Русский (Russian)
испуг

idioms:

• frighten away    спугнуть
• frighten into    заставить с помощью угроз
• frighten off    спугнуть
• frighten someone out of their wits    сильно напугать
• frighten the life out of    сильно напугать
• give someone a fright    пугнуть
• take fright    испугаться
• the fright of one's life    сильный испуг

Español (Spanish)
n. - susto, sobresalto
v. tr. - asustar, espantar, ahuyentar

idioms:

• frighten away    espantar, ahuyentar
• frighten into    forzar con amenazas
• frighten off    espantar, ahuyentar
• frighten someone out of their wits    dar un susto de muerte a alguien
• frighten the life out of    dar un susto de muerte a alguien
• frightened to death    tener un miedo espantoso, llevarse un susto mortal
• give someone a fright    asustar a alguien
• take fright    atemorizarse, aterrarse, espantarse, asustarse
• the fright of one's life    un susto de muerte

Svenska (Swedish)
n. - skräck, spöke, skrämma (poet.)
v. - skrämma (poet.)

中文（简体）(Chinese (Simplified))
惊骇, 吃惊, 使惊恐, 吓唬

idioms:

• frighten away    把...吓走
• frighten into    恐吓某人做某事
• frighten off    吓跑...
• frighten someone out of their wits    把...吓呆了
• frighten the life out of    把...吓的要命
• frightened to death    吓的要死
• give someone a fright    使某人吃惊
• take fright    受到惊吓
• the fright of one's life    吓的要命

中文（繁體）(Chinese (Traditional))
n. - 驚駭, 吃驚
v. tr. - 使驚恐, 嚇唬

idioms:

• frighten away    把...嚇走
• frighten into    恐嚇某人做某事
• frighten off    嚇跑...
• frighten someone out of their wits    把...嚇呆了
• frighten the life out of    把...嚇的要命
• frightened to death    嚇的要死
• give someone a fright    使某人吃驚
• take fright    受到驚嚇
• the fright of one's life    嚇的要命

한국어 (Korean)
n. - 공포, 경악, 추악한 것
v. tr. - 놀라게 하다

idioms:

• frighten away    겁주어 쫓다
• frighten into    ~을 협박하여~시키다
• frighten off    기분 나쁜 일을 당하다, 깜짝 놀라다
• give someone a fright    충격을 받다
• take fright    갑자기 놀라게 되다
• the fright of one's life    갑자기 공포를 느끼다

日本語 (Japanese)
n. - 恐怖, 驚き, 恐怖の体験, 異様なもの

idioms:

• frighten away    脅かして追い払う
• frighten into    脅かして～させる
• frighten off    脅かして追い払う
• take fright    ぎょっとする
• the fright of one's life    前途が暗い

العربيه (Arabic)
‏(الاسم) رعب , خوف (فعل) يرعب يرعب , يخيف‏

עברית (Hebrew)
n. - ‮פחד פתאומי, אימה, אדם מגוחך‬
v. tr. - ‮הטיל אימה‬

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