frighten

[frahyt-n]

verb (used with object)

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.

verb (used without object)

1. to become frightened.

   a timid child who frightens easily.

frighten

/ ˈfraɪtən /

verb

1. to cause fear in; terrify; scare

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

Other Word Forms

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

Word History and Origins

Origin of frighten¹

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

Idioms and Phrases

see scare out of one's wits.

Synonym Study

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.

Example Sentences

Footage of the frightened animals was broadcast worldwide after being captured by a BBC cameraman covering the Post Office Inquiry.

Read more on BBC

That prospect appears to have frightened the socialists in particular.

Read more on The Wall Street Journal

This has left Jews too frightened to walk in central London when these mobs are allowed to rule the streets with the police doing virtually nothing.”

Read more on The Wall Street Journal

But he does an excellent job of squaring the fading man before his eyes—the soppy grandparent and proud father—with the “shadowy, mysterious, sometimes frightening, often absent” stock figure from his youth.

Read more on The Wall Street Journal

There comes a time when an NFL fan in the midst of a bad season must make a frightening choice.

Read more on The Wall Street Journal

Related Words

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