The English Oracle

What do you call something that causes fear?

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Chapters
00:00 What Do You Call Something That Causes Fear?
00:19 Answer 1 Score 11
00:29 Answer 2 Score 6
00:50 Answer 3 Score 11
01:15 Answer 4 Score 7
01:23 Thank you

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#avk47


ANSWER 1

Score 11


Fright may fit your context:

  • Sudden intense fear, as of something immediately threatening


ANSWER 2

Score 11


One option is Terror

  1. Informal. a person or thing that is especially annoying or unpleasant.

Even more so in British usage:

  1. A person or thing that inspires great dread

This fits pretty well into your sentence:

The wind and the owls weren't the only terror that night.



ANSWER 3

Score 7


How about :

The wind and the owls weren't the only fearsome things that night.



ANSWER 4

Score 6


There are two words I can come up with:

  • scary — something that makes you scared, with fear

  • frightening — something that causes you fear

As I brought up in a comment to another answer, you may reword your sentence to:

The wind and the owls weren't the only frightening/scary things that night.