Library / English Dictionary

FRIGHTEN

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

 I. (verb) 

Sense 1

Meaning:

Cause fear in

Example:

Ghosts could never affright her

Synonyms:

affright; fright; frighten; scare

Classified under:

Verbs of feeling

Hypernyms (to "frighten" is one way to...):

excite; shake; shake up; stimulate; stir (stir the feelings, emotions, or peace of)

Cause:

dread; fear (be afraid or scared of; be frightened of)

Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "frighten"):

bluff (frighten someone by pretending to be stronger than one really is)

awe (inspire awe in)

terrify; terrorise; terrorize (fill with terror; frighten greatly)

intimidate (make timid or fearful)

alarm; appal; appall; dismay; horrify (fill with apprehension or alarm; cause to be unpleasantly surprised)

consternate (fill with anxiety, dread, dismay, or confusion)

spook (frighten or scare, and often provoke into a violent action)

Sentence frames:

Somebody ----s somebody
Something ----s somebody

Sentence example:

The bad news will frighten him

Also:

frighten away; frighten off (cause to lose courage)

Derivation:

frightening (the act of inspiring with fear)

Credits

 Context examples: 

May it not frighten her terribly?

(Dracula, by Bram Stoker)

She was frightened at her own conclusion, and she talked it over with Hans.

(Love of Life and Other Stories, by Jack London)

The Outsides were timid and frightened, the Insides without confidence in their masters.

(The Call of the Wild, by Jack London)

‘Ah, boys,’ said he, forcing a smile, ‘I hope I haven’t frightened you.’

(The Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

Do not let us be frightened from a good deed by a trifle.

(Mansfield Park, by Jane Austen)

But my mother, frightened as she was, would not consent to take a fraction more than was due to her and was obstinately unwilling to be content with less.

(Treasure Island, by Robert Louis Stevenson)

More and more frightened, she immediately promised them money, and taking out her purse, gave them a shilling, and begged them not to want more, or to use her ill.

(Emma, by Jane Austen)

You will not be frightened, Miss Morland, said Thorpe, as he handed her in, if my horse should dance about a little at first setting off.

(Northanger Abbey, by Jane Austen)

The frightened tire-woman tried to excuse herself.

(The White Company, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

She was prepared to be wet through, fatigued, and frightened; but the event was still more unfortunate, for they did not go at all.

(Sense and Sensibility, by Jane Austen)