frighten
to make afraid or fearful; throw into a fright; terrify; scare.
to drive (usually followed by away, off, etc.) by scaring: to frighten away pigeons from the roof.
to become frightened: a timid child who frightens easily.
Origin of frighten
1synonym study For frighten
Other words for frighten
Other words from frighten
- fright·en·a·ble, adjective
- fright·en·er, noun
- fright·en·ing·ly, adverb
- non·fright·en·ing, adjective
- non·fright·en·ing·ly, adverb
- o·ver·fright·en, verb
- un·fright·en·ing, adjective
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024
How to use frighten in a sentence
The Zero FX electric motorcycle is an exciting machine with a top speed of 85 miles per hour and enough acceleration to frighten yourself if you twist aggressively enough on the throttle.
I rode an electric motorcycle for the first time. Here’s what I learned. | Rob Verger | December 10, 2020 | Popular-ScienceAs it was, the likely return of the virus in the winter frightened her.
“We Don’t Even Know Who Is Dead or Alive”: Trapped Inside an Assisted Living Facility During the Pandemic | by Ava Kofman | November 30, 2020 | ProPublicaOne even went so far as to say large breasts frightened him.
It frightens me because there’s so many people out there that are responsible gun owners, but there are so many that are not.
When confronted by a threat, the animal might quickly flash its colors to frighten the predator, sometimes in just 700 milliseconds.
Flamboyant cuttlefish save their bright patterns for flirting, fighting and fleeing | Helen Thompson | September 1, 2020 | Science News
They say it's frightening how the real CIA is perceived to be as clueless as Archer Co.
‘Archer’ Creator Adam Reed Spills Season 6 Secrets, From Surreal Plotlines to Life Post-ISIS | Marlow Stern | January 8, 2015 | THE DAILY BEASTIn a frightening development for the GOP, Democrats had won even traditionally Republican constituencies in the Midwest.
Thank Congress, Not LBJ for Great Society | Julian Zelizer, Scott Porch | January 4, 2015 | THE DAILY BEASTAfter all, he was on television every week, telling macabre stories, frightening us.
Alfred Hitchcock’s Fade to Black: The Great Director’s Final Days | David Freeman | December 13, 2014 | THE DAILY BEASTPerhaps made doubly frightening because not only does the old man frighten Garfield and Odie, but he steals their candy as well.
Garfield Television: The Cat Who Saved Primetime Cartoons | Rich Goldstein | November 5, 2014 | THE DAILY BEASTHe was completely a normal human being inside but he looked really, really frightening.
This is better than frightening them out of their skins by jumping out from behind a door and saying "Boo."
"I had not the least intention of frightening the most fearsome little tender mouse on earth," said Harry.
The Daisy Chain | Charlotte YongeShe liked to turn off the road and gallop across the trackless ways, sometimes frightening rabbits and coyotes from the sagebrush.
Mystery Ranch | Arthur ChapmanIn their play the older children were in the habit of frightening the others with the name of Napoleon Bonaparte.
Napoleon's Young Neighbor | Helen Leah ReedBecause you'll find it useful, if you think of frightening Sloyd.
Tristram of Blent | Anthony Hope
British Dictionary definitions for frighten
/ (ˈfraɪtən) /
to cause fear in; terrify; scare
to drive or force to go (away, off, out, in, etc) by making afraid
Derived forms of frighten
- frightened, adjective
- frightening, adjective
- frighteningly, adverb
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
Other Idioms and Phrases with frighten
see scare out of one's wits.
The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
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