frighten
Americanverb (used with object)
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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)
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
Related Words
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
- frightenable adjective
- frightened adjective
- frightener noun
- frightening adjective
- frighteningly adverb
- nonfrightening adjective
- nonfrighteningly adverb
- overfrighten verb
- unfrightening adjective
Etymology
Origin of frighten
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.
“Maybe it was the feathers in Georgie’s hair,” Lissa said, “and the war paint. He jumped out of the bushes screaming and yelling. I guess he was trying to frighten us.”
From Literature
First as a mere trick to frighten our mother, and then, when so many people came to see us children, we were frightened ourselves and kept it up.
From Literature
“There were so many times that I wanted to tell you the truth about my past, but I was afraid the truth would frighten you.”
From Literature
You do all your favorite skills, with names like “angel” and “ankle drop,” names that sometimes frighten you when you’re on the ground.
From Literature
I couldn’t bear to frighten the trembling animal away.
From Literature
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.
