Meaning of jump scare | Babel Free

Definitions

1. The technique, typically used in horror films and video games, of having something occur suddenly and without warning to frighten the audience.
2. The sudden arrival or advent of something unpleasant.
   broadly, humorous
3. A fright caused by this.

Equivalents

Examples

“They'd do something horrible, maybe kill off a few protagonists, and then make people sit around waiting for the next terrible thing to come along. They called it “setting up a jump scare.””

“Drag Me to Hell capitalizes on the jump scare, scattering it liberally throughout the film to the point where it becomes almost numbing.”

“This quiet is broken suddenly with an initial jump scare of the puppet's iconic laughter.”

“The loud knock at the door gave me a terrible jump scare.”

CEFR level