A sudden intense feeling of fear or alarm. An experience that causes someone to feel scared or startled unexpectedly.
From Old English fyrhto meaning 'fear, dread,' related to Old High German forht 'afraid.' Connected to the Proto-Germanic root meaning 'to fear.'
Fright triggers our ancient fight-or-flight response in milliseconds - your body can react to a scary stimulus before your conscious mind even processes what's happening, a survival mechanism millions of years old!
Fright coded as feminine/weak response in classical literature; masculinity defined by fearlessness. Gendered emotion hierarchy perpetuated through narrative tradition.
Fear is universal; use 'fear', 'alarm', or 'concern' to avoid gendered implications.
["fear","alarm","dread","apprehension"]
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