Noun

(wikipedia fright)

A state of terror excited by the sudden appearance of danger; sudden and violent fear, usually of short duration; a sudden alarm.

* 1994 , (Stephen Fry), (The Hippopotamus) Chapter 2:

With a bolt of fright he remembered that there was no bathroom in the Hobhouse Room. He leapt along the corridor in a panic, stopping by the long-case clock at the end where he flattened himself against the wall.

Anything strange, ugly or shocking, producing a feeling of alarm or aversion.

* 1819 , Lord Byron, Don Juan , I:

Her maids were old, and if she took a new one,

You might be sure she was a perfect fright ;

She did this during even her husband's life

I recommend as much to every wife.

Noun

(-)

A fearful state; a state of hesitation or concern.

I decided, with considerable trepidation , to let him drive my car without me.

* 1929 , , Chapter VII, Section vi

She opened the drawing-room door in trepidation . Would she find Esther drowned with her head in the goldfish bowl, or hanged from the chandelier by her stay-lace?

* {{quote-news

, year=2011 , date=December 10 , author=Marc Higginson , title=Bolton 1 - 2 Aston Villa , work=BBC Sport citation , page= , passage=The Midlanders will hope the victory will kickstart a campaign that looked to have hit the buffers, but the sense of trepidation enveloping the Reebok Stadium heading into the new year underlines the seriousness of the predicament facing Owen Coyle's men.}}

An involuntary trembling, sometimes an effect of paralysis, but usually caused by terror or fear; quaking; quivering.

(astronomy, obsolete) A libration of the starry sphere in the Ptolemaic system; a motion ascribed to the firmament, to account for certain small changes in the position of the ecliptic and of the stars.