frightened

adjective

fright·​ened ˈfrī-tᵊnd 

: feeling fear : made to feel afraid

a badly frightened child

The farmer was hurrying out into the road, and his wife was standing at the gate, looking very frightened.

—Anna Sewell

Synonyms of frightened

• afraid
• terrified
• scared
• horrified
• alarmed
• shocked
• fearful

Examples of frightened in a Sentence

I am frightened of the dark

Recent Examples on the Web

Think of yourself as the captain of your ship versus one frightened passenger, the conductor instead of one instrument in the orchestra or the CEO rather than one anxious shareholder in the boardroom. — Bryan Robinson, Forbes.com, 12 Aug. 2026

She was hurt, frightened and days away from the biggest race of the season. — Jackson Thompson, FOXNews.com, 12 Aug. 2026

And Cooke, the season’s MVP of revealing expressions and reaction shots, conveys through Alicent’s uncertain and frightened face at all those butterflies a dawning realization of the betrayal she’s suffered. — Roxana Hadadi, Vulture, 10 Aug. 2026

Next, the dogs were once again shown images of happy and neutral faces, but along with those they were also shown angry, frightened, and sad ones. — Jeffrey Kluger, Time, 10 Aug. 2026

Word History

Etymology

from past participle of frighten

First Known Use

1591, in the meaning defined above

Phrases Containing frightened

• scared/frightened the dickens

Rhymes for frightened

• enlightened
• brightened
• heightened
• lightened
• tightened
• unenlightened