Word forms: 3rd person singular presenttense frightens, present participle frightening, past tense, past participle frightened
1. verb
If something or someone frightens you, they cause you to suddenly feel afraid, anxious, or nervous.
He knew that Soli was trying to frighten him, so he smiled to hide his fear. [VERB noun]
Most children are frightened by the sight of blood. [beVERB-ed]
Synonyms: scare, shock, alarm, terrify More Synonyms of frighten
2.
See frighten the life/wits out of sb
Phrasal verbs:
See frighten away
See frighten into
See frighten off
frighten in British English
(ˈfraɪtən)
verb(transitive)
1.
to cause fear in; terrify; scare
2.
to drive or force to go (away, off, out, in, etc) by making afraid
Derived forms
frightened (ˈfrightened)
adjective
frightening (ˈfrightening)
adjective
frighteningly (ˈfrighteningly)
adverb
frighten in American English
(ˈfraɪtən)
verb transitive
1.
to cause to feel fright; make suddenly afraid; scare; terrify
2.
to force (away, out, or off) or bring (into a specified condition) by making afraid
to frighten someone into confessing
verb intransitive
3.
to become suddenly afraid
SYNONYMY NOTE: frighten is the broadest of these terms and implies, usually, a sudden, temporary feelingof fear [frightened by a mouse] but sometimes, a state of continued dread [she's frightened when she's alone]; scare, often equivalent to , frighten, in stricter use implies a fear that causes one to flee or to stop doing something[I scared him from the room]; alarm suggests a sudden fear or apprehension at the realization of an approaching danger[alarmed by his warning]; to terrify is to cause to feel an overwhelming, often paralyzing fear [terrified at the thought of war]; terrorize implies deliberate intention to terrify by threat or intimidation [the gangsters terrorized the city]
Derived forms
frighteningly (ˈfrighteningly)
adverb
More idioms containing
frighten
frighten the life out of someone
In other languages
frighten
British English: frighten /ˈfraɪtn/ VERB
If something or someone frightens you, they cause you to suddenly feel afraid or anxious.
He knew that she was trying to frighten him.
American English: frighten
Arabic: يُرْعِبُ
Brazilian Portuguese: assustar
Chinese: 惊恐
Croatian: prestrašiti
Czech: děsit
Danish: skræmme
Dutch: bangmaken
European Spanish: asustar
Finnish: pelästyttää
French: effrayer
German: erschrecken
Greek: τρομάζω
Italian: spaventare
Japanese: 怖がらせる
Korean: 겁을 주다
Norwegian: skremme
Polish: przestraszyć
European Portuguese: assustar
Romanian: a speria
Russian: пугать
Latin American Spanish: asustar
Swedish: skrämma
Thai: ทำให้ตกใจ
Turkish: korkutmak
Ukrainian: налякати
Vietnamese: làm sợ hãi
All related terms of 'frighten'
frighten away
If you frighten away a person or animal or frighten them off , you make them afraid so that they run away or stay some distance away from you.
frighten into
If you frighten someone into doing something they would not normally do, you make them do it by making them afraid not to do it.
frighten off
frighten the life out of someone
to frighten someone a great deal
frighten the life/wits out of sb
If something frightens the life out of you, frightens the wits out of you, or frightens you out of your wits , it causes you to feel suddenly afraid or gives you a very unpleasant shock .
Chinese translation of 'frighten'
frighten
(ˈfraɪtn)
vt
使惊(驚)恐 (shǐ jīngkǒng)
(verb)
Definition
to terrify or scare
Most children are frightened by the sight of blood.
Synonyms
scare
She's just trying to scare me.
shock
alarm
We could not see what had alarmed him.
terrify
The thought of a slow, painful death terrified me.
cow
They were not cowed by physical intimidation.
appal
Such a waste of money appals me.
startle
The telephone startled him.
intimidate
Attempts to intimidate people into voting for them failed.
dismay
The committee was dismayed by what it had been told.
daunt
Nothing evil could daunt them.
unnerve
The news about Dermot had unnerved me.
petrify
unman
terrorize
The intruders terrorized the government employees.
scare (someone) stiff
put the wind up (someone) (informal)
scare the living daylights out of (someone) (informal)
make your hair stand on end (informal)
get the wind up
make your blood run cold
throw into a panic
scare the bejesus out of (informal)
affright (archaic)
freeze your blood
make (someone) jump out of their skin (informal)
throw into a fright
Opposites
encourage
,
comfort
,
calm
,
reassure
,
soothe
,
hearten
,
allay
,
assuage
phrasal verb
See frighten something or someone off or away
Additional synonyms
in the sense of alarm
Definition
to fill with fear
We could not see what had alarmed him.
Synonyms
frighten,
shock,
scare,
panic,
distress,
terrify,
startle,
rattle,
dismay,
daunt,
unnerve,
terrorize,
put the wind up (informal),
give (someone) a turn (informal),
scare the bejesus out of (informal),
make (someone's) hair stand on end
in the sense of appal
Definition
to fill with horror
Such a waste of money appals me.
Synonyms
horrify,
shock,
alarm,
frighten,
scare,
terrify,
outrage,
disgust,
dishearten,
revolt,
intimidate,
dismay,
daunt,
sicken,
astound,
harrow,
unnerve,
petrify,
scandalize,
make your hair stand on end (informal)
in the sense of cow
Definition
to frighten or subdue with threats
They were not cowed by physical intimidation.
Synonyms
intimidate,
daunt,
frighten,
scare,
bully,
dismay,
awe,
subdue,
unnerve,
overawe,
terrorize,
browbeat,
psych out (informal),
dishearten
Synonyms of 'frighten'
frighten
Explore 'frighten' in the dictionary
Additional synonyms
in the sense of daunt
Nothing evil could daunt them.
Synonyms
discourage,
alarm,
shake,
frighten,
scare,
terrify,
cow,
intimidate,
deter,
dismay,
put off,
subdue,
overawe,
frighten off,
dishearten,
dispirit
in the sense of dismay
Definition
to fill with alarm or depression
The committee was dismayed by what it had been told.
Synonyms
alarm,
frighten,
scare,
panic,
distress,
terrify,
appal,
startle,
horrify,
paralyse,
unnerve,
put the wind up (someone) (informal),
give (someone) a turn (informal),
affright,
fill with consternation
in the sense of intimidate
Definition
to subdue or influence (someone) through fear
Attempts to intimidate people into voting for them failed.
Synonyms
frighten,
pressure,
threaten,
alarm,
scare,
terrify,
cow,
bully,
plague,
menace,
hound,
awe,
daunt,
harass,
subdue,
oppress,
persecute,
lean on (informal),
coerce,
overawe,
scare off (informal),
terrorize,
pressurize,
browbeat,
twist someone's arm (informal),
tyrannize,
dishearten,
dispirit,
scare the bejesus out of (informal),
affright (archaic),
domineer
in the sense of startle
Definition
to slightly surprise or frighten someone
The telephone startled him.
Synonyms
surprise,
shock,
alarm,
frighten,
scare,
agitate,
take (someone) aback,
make (someone) jump,
give (someone) a turn (informal),
scare the bejesus out of (informal)
in the sense of terrify
Definition
to frighten greatly
The thought of a slow, painful death terrified me.
Synonyms
frighten,
scare,
petrify,
alarm,
intimidate,
terrorize,
scare to death,
put the fear of God into,
make your hair stand on end,
fill with terror,
make your flesh creep,
make your blood run cold,
scare the bejesus out of (informal),
frighten out of your wits
in the sense of terrorize
Definition
to make (someone) very frightened
The intruders terrorized the government employees.
Synonyms
terrify,
alarm,
frighten,
scare,
intimidate,
petrify,
scare to death,
strike terror into,
put the fear of God into,
fill with terror,
scare the bejesus out of (informal),
frighten out of your wits,
inspire panic in
in the sense of unnerve
Definition
to cause to lose courage, confidence, or self-control