frighten
Americanverb (used with object)
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frightens,
present (3rd person singular)
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frightened,
past participle, past
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frightening
present participle
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to make afraid or fearful; throw into a fright; terrify; scare.
- Synonyms:
- intimidate, dismay, startle, shock
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to drive (usually followed by away, off, etc.) by scaring.
to frighten away pigeons from the roof.
verb (used without object)
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frightens,
present (3rd person singular)
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frightened,
past participle, past
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frightening
present participle
verb
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to cause fear in; terrify; scare
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to drive or force to go (away, off, out, in, etc) by making afraid
Synonym Usage
Frighten, alarm, scare, terrify, terrorize, appall all mean to arouse fear in people or animals. To frighten is to shock with sudden, startling, but usually short-lived fear, especially that arising from the apprehension of physical harm: to frighten someone by a sudden noise. To alarm is to arouse the feelings through the realization of some imminent or unexpected danger: to alarm someone by a scream. To scare is to frighten, often without the presence of real danger: Horror movies really scare me. To terrify is to strike with violent, overwhelming, or paralyzing fear: to terrify a city by lawless acts. To terrorize is to terrify in a general, continued, systematic manner, either wantonly or in order to gain control: His marauding armies terrorized the countryside. To appall is to overcome or confound by dread, dismay, shock, or horror: The suffering caused by the earthquake appalled him.
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
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frightenernoun
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overfrightenverb
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frightenableadjective
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frightenedadjective
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frighteningadjective
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nonfrighteningadjective
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unfrighteningadjective
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frighteninglyadverb
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nonfrighteninglyadverb
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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frightensimple
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frightenssimple
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have frightenedperfect
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has frightenedperfect
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am frighteningprogressive
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are frighteningprogressive
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is frighteningprogressive
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have been frighteningperfect progressive
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has been frighteningperfect progressive
Past
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frightenedsimple
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had frightenedperfect
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was frighteningprogressive
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were frighteningprogressive
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had been frighteningperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of frighten
Explanation
To frighten is to make someone feel afraid. Your new look — pink hair, tattoos, and piercings — will probably frighten your grandparents. If horror movies and haunted houses frighten you, they scare you, and all it might take to frighten your skittish cat is the sound of the vacuum cleaner or coffee grinder. Frighten is the verb form of the noun fright. although originally the verb was also fright. The Old English source is fyrhtu, "fear, dread, trembling, or horrible sight."
Vocabulary lists containing frighten
Unit 1, Academic Vocabulary
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Terrify
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Terrify
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
First used by Ottoman military "mehter" bands to frighten and demoralise the enemy, cymbals were a useful tool for an empire on the warpath.
From Barron's ● Aug. 6, 2026
The alerts didn’t frighten her as much as before, she said, and her fears about the future have eased.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 2, 2026
“They tell you to alert the bear to make sure you don’t frighten it. I called, ‘Hey bear!
From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 7, 2026
"Until yesterday, I never thought there would be something that would frighten me of going back to Liverpool after the break. Team-mates come and go but not like this," Salah posted last summer.
From BBC ● May 23, 2026
Now, at the sudden prospect of a scythe before him, Rowan had an odd urge to do the same—as if raising his hands above his head could frighten the scythe away.
From "Scythe" by Neal Shusterman
What frightens scientists more than the sheer numbers are that the cuts are arbitrary and manifestly pernicious.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 11, 2026
I’m not here to persuade you to fly if it frightens you that much.
From MarketWatch ● Apr. 9, 2026
"If you are outspoken, black, and playing to that kind of level and not caring, that frightens certain people," said Wright, who scored nine goals in 33 England appearances.
From BBC ● Nov. 20, 2025
And that frightens Gen Z. This is a reason young people are attracted to videogames—the predictable safety of digital fantasy.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 21, 2025
“I can understand how this might be upsetting to you. That ‘FBI’ title frightens people sometimes.
From "Found" by Margaret Peterson Haddix
Natalie said she found the response "disappointing", adding: "I think a lot of people are already frightened and it's more frightening not knowing."
From BBC ● Sep. 24, 2026
But despite the typos and inconsistencies in the emails, I understood how such an unsophisticated scam might actually be effective if the mark was sufficiently confused—or frightened.
From Slate ● Sep. 22, 2026
A video from the scene released by prosecutors shows animals doubled up in cages, barking and frightened, and over a dozen cats held in a fenced area.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 18, 2026
That is precisely why the NFL, and not the frightened kid, should be the one to move first.
From Salon ● Sep. 9, 2026
The strange sight of Rocinante and Don Quixote frightened them at first.
From "Adventures of Don Quixote" by Argentina Palacios
However, the first few months in Biles’ long-awaited dream home have also included a frightening chapter.
From MarketWatch ● Sep. 28, 2026
Seeing the outfit up close is a reminder of just how little Hopkins needed to work with: Even with virtually his entire body immobilized and much of his face obscured, Lecter somehow became more frightening.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 25, 2026
Even more frightening are the claims made about how this information is gathered.
From Salon ● Sep. 21, 2026
But her life took a dramatic and frightening turn during a performance of Queen musical We Will Rock You at the London Coliseum.
From BBC ● Sep. 11, 2026
Meanwhile, Quinby excavated with an energy that was almost frightening.
From "Willodeen" by Katherine Applegate
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
