Synonym Usage
See afraid.
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of frightened
Explanation
Someone who's frightened is scared or anxious. A frightened camper might tremble with fear as she listens to the scary campfire stories her counselor tells. When you're frightened, you feel fearful — you might be frightened of thunderstorms or frightened of strange dogs. A frightened airplane passenger might panic and cause other people to become frightened. The adjective comes from frighten — before the 1660s, the verb was instead fright. All of these words share an Old English root, fyrhtu, "fear, dread, trembling, or horrible sight."
Vocabulary lists containing frightened
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Yikes! Synonyms for "Scared"
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Hooked on a Feeling, List 2
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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.
The complainant recalled him saying it might end badly for her, but that she had not felt frightened of him.
From BBC ● Oct. 6, 2026
But Cardinale acknowledged layoffs would be part of the cost-cuts, a prospect that frightened many in Hollywood after endless waves of job cuts at the two companies.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 2, 2026
After some of the attacks, Weinberg would ask the frightened women to speak with other potential models who were nervous about letting him photograph them, according to the February court filing.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 1, 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
And I was more frightened than I had been of Anna Donnelly.
From "Nory Ryan’s Song" by Patricia Reilly Giff
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Get a wordDefinitions 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.
