frighten

American  

[frahyt-n] / ˈfraɪt n /

verb (used with object)

• frightens,
  present (3rd person singular)
• frightened,
  past participle,  past
• frightening
  present participle

1. to make afraid or fearful; throw into a fright; terrify; scare.

   Synonyms:

   intimidate, dismay, startle, shock

2. to drive (usually followed by away, off, etc.) by scaring.

   to frighten away pigeons from the roof.

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verb (used without object)

• frightens,
  present (3rd person singular)
• frightened,
  past participle,  past
• frightening
  present participle

1. to become frightened.

   a timid child who frightens easily.

frighten British  

/ ˈfraɪtən /

verb

1. to cause fear in; terrify; scare

2. to drive or force to go (away, off, out, in, etc) by making afraid

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frighten Idioms  

1. see scare out of one's wits.

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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

• frightener
  noun
• overfrighten
  verb
• frightenable
  adjective
• frightened
  adjective
• frightening
  adjective
• nonfrightening
  adjective
• unfrightening
  adjective
• frighteningly
  adverb
• nonfrighteningly
  adverb

Inflected Forms

Participles

• frightening
  present
• frightened
  past

Conjugated Forms

Present

• frighten
  simple
• frightens
  simple
• have frightened
  perfect
• has frightened
  perfect
• am frightening
  progressive
• are frightening
  progressive
• is frightening
  progressive
• have been frightening
  perfect progressive
• has been frightening
  perfect progressive

Past

• frightened
  simple
• had frightened
  perfect
• was frightening
  progressive
• were frightening
  progressive
• had been frightening
  perfect progressive

Future

• will frighten
  simple
• will have frightened
  perfect
• will be frightening
  progressive
• will have been frightening
  perfect progressive

Etymology

Origin of frighten

First recorded in 1660–70; fright + -en ¹

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."

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

frighten frightens frightened frightening

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

He’s a student of life as much as he is filmmaking, a humanist who forges connections with spectacular sights of the things that frighten and fascinate us the most.

From Salon ● Jun. 28, 2026

Wildlife experts say human-bear conflicts are the result of people moving deeper into the wildlands, and that bears that wander into neighborhoods are often harmless and easy to frighten.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 17, 2026

“You cannot frighten me,” said the man in black, but there was fear all through his voice.

From "The Princess Bride" by William Goldman

I have to admit your creativity frightens me a little.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 21, 2026

I’m not here to persuade you to fly if it frightens you that much.

From MarketWatch ● Apr. 9, 2026

"Touch wood, no. I've been very, very close. It's this that frightens them", he tugs his orange vest.

From BBC ● Mar. 16, 2026

Desai: It looked at year end like Kevin Hassett’s star was on the rise, but none of the names discussed frightens me.

From Barron's ● Jan. 9, 2026

And it is this which frightens me: Who knows but that, on the lower frequencies, I speak for you?

From "Invisible Man" by Ralph Ellison

"When she needed support, reassurance and fair treatment, she was left frightened, isolated and convinced her career and reputation had been destroyed," they added.

From BBC ● Aug. 10, 2026

What lingers is the intimacy of the work—the steady service of caring for frightened people during the worst days of their lives.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 21, 2026

A place outsiders might dismiss as decadent was also where money was raised, grief was gathered and a frightened community turned nightlife into a lifeline.

From Salon ● Jul. 20, 2026

Groups representing more than 500 landowners took Green Gen Cymru to court, claiming they were left "frightened and intimidated" by company agents turning up on their farms.

From BBC ● Jul. 6, 2026

Jeremy blinked at his own boldness; frightened, he took a step back.

From "Jeremy Thatcher, Dragon Hatcher" by Bruce Coville

It inherently asks us to consume these people and needs us to in order to make money, but sometimes consumers want to unhinge their jaws and eat these stars whole, a frightening and unsettling behavior.

From Slate ● Aug. 5, 2026

He grew up only 10 blocks from the American Museum of Natural History, where a frightening skull display first captured his imagination.

From Science Daily ● Aug. 5, 2026

"It is frightening because you don't know people's real intentions."

From BBC ● Aug. 3, 2026

That frightening detail comes from Sydney Croasmun, vice president of the Ridge Route preservation group.

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 1, 2026

She hesitated, wanting to make the story more frightening.

From Anya and the Dragon by Sofiya Pasternack

Related Words

• agitate
• alarm
• astound
• awe
• daunt
• demoralize
• deter
• disconcert
• discourage
• dishearten
• dismay
• faze
• horrify
• intimidate
• perturb
• petrify
• startle
• terrify
• terrorize
• unnerve