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
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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