Literary notes about frightful (AI summary)
The word "frightful" is deployed by authors to intensify descriptions and evoke a spectrum of reactions, from sheer terror to dismay or even ironic commentary. In narrative accounts, it amplifies the severity of events—illustrating everything from disastrous accidents ([1]) and abominable crimes ([2]) to the raw intensity of natural forces such as speed and violence ([3], [4]). It also serves to cast characters, settings, or internal sensations in a deeply unsettling light; for example, it marks an eerie atmosphere in personal reflections or surroundings ([5], [6]), while in other contexts it critiques broader social or historical realities by detailing the grim facets of war or despotism ([7], [8]). This versatile adjective thus functions as a potent device in literature, heightening dramatic impact and deepening the reader’s emotional engagement.
- I have nothing but water in my head o' nights since this frightful accident.
— from The Works of Charles and Mary Lamb — Volume 2 by Charles Lamb and Mary Lamb - Yes, I committed a crime, a frightful, abominable crime.
— from Complete Original Short Stories of Guy De Maupassant by Guy de Maupassant - The carriage continued to roll on with frightful speed.
— from The Count of Monte Cristo by Alexandre Dumas and Auguste Maquet - But this obstacle could not stop Captain Nemo: he hurled himself against it with frightful violence.
— from Twenty Thousand Leagues under the Sea by Jules Verne - It was terrible to behold the frightful pallor of that woman, the anguish of her look, the trembling of her whole frame.
— from The Count of Monte Cristo by Alexandre Dumas and Auguste Maquet - When he had done that and looked round again, the two pieces were joined together, and a frightful man was sitting in his place.
— from Household Tales by Brothers Grimm by Jacob Grimm and Wilhelm Grimm - The prospect of so frightful an existence drives these poor creatures to the sacrifice much more than love or religious fanaticism.
— from Around the World in Eighty Days by Jules Verne - During a ten years’ residence in Russia I witnessed the frightful effects of despotism and slavery.
— from Travels in the Central Parts of Indo-China (Siam), Cambodia, and Laos (Vol. 1 of 2) by Henri Mouhot
