hair-raising

/'heə,reiziɳ/

Thân thiện

The roller coaster's hair-raising drop made everyone scream.

Definition

1. Adjective:
   • Extremely frightening or terrifying: Causing intense fear, shock, or alarm, often to the point where one imagines their hair standing on end.
   • Thrillingly or shockingly exciting: Describing an experience that is both terrifying and exhilarating.

Usage

The adjective "hair-raising" is used to describe situations, stories, events, or experiences that are so frightening or shocking they could metaphorically make one's hair stand on end. It emphasizes a high degree of alarm or thrilling danger.

Examples

• Adjective:
  • The documentary featured hair-raising footage of the mountain climbers during the storm.
  • She told a hair-raising story about being lost in the forest at night.
  • Driving on that icy road was a hair-raising experience.

Advanced Usage

• Used for metaphorical intensity: While it literally refers to the physical reaction of hair standing up due to fear, it is almost always used figuratively to describe psychological terror or extreme tension.
  • The hair-raising suspense in the final chapter kept me reading all night.

Variants and Related Words

• Hair-raiser (noun, informal): Something that causes a hair-raising reaction.
  • That horror movie was a real hair-raiser.

Synonyms

• Terrifying: Causing extreme fear.
• Spine-chilling: Causing a shiver of fear or excitement.
• Blood-curdling: Extremely frightening or horrifying.
• Alarming: Causing sudden fear or concern.

Antonyms

• Soothing: Having a calming or comforting effect.
• Reassuring: Serving to remove someone's doubts or fears.
• Mundane: Lacking excitement or drama.

Related Idioms

• To make one's hair stand on end: To frighten or shock someone intensely. This is the literal idea behind the adjective "hair-raising."
  • The eerie sound in the old house made my hair stand on end.

Học thuật

Adjective

1. extremely alarming

Từ đồng nghĩa

• bloodcurdling
• nightmarish