frighten

play

verb fright·en \ ˈfrī-tᵊn \

Definition of frighten

frightened; frightening play \ˈfrī-tᵊn-iŋ, ˈfrīt-niŋ\

transitive verb

1 :to make afraid :terrify

The movie scene frightened the child.

2 :to drive or force by frightening

frightened the boy into confessing

intransitive verb

:to become frightened

She doesn't frighten easily.

—

frighteningly

play \ˈfrī-tᵊn-iŋ-lē, ˈfrīt-niŋ-lē\ adverb

See frighten defined for English-language learners

See frighten defined for kids

Examples of frighten in a Sentence

The story really frightened me.
The child was badly frightened by the mask.

Recent Examples of frighten from the Web

Deutsch knows what will be waiting: Frightened, traumatized animals that may be dangerous, as well as ones that can't be saved, come hand-in-hand with the successful rescue, happy-ending stories.

— jim newton, Lake County News-Sun, "Heading to Houston: North Chicago animal warden on rescue mission to save pets lost in Harvey," 29 Aug. 2017
The prospect that white people will no longer be the majority group in America frightens him.

— robert king, Indianapolis Star, "Indiana white nationalist called 'the next David Duke' isn't stopping with Charlottesville," 27 Aug. 2017
Seriously, was your intent to frighten the socks off people?

— randy dotinga, The Christian Science Monitor, "'Quakeland' author Kathryn Miles on why there's a lot more shaky ground than we realize," 18 Aug. 2017
Weighing in at a combined 560 pounds, seniors Malik Vann and Jack Carman can frighten your average, run-of-the-mill prep tackler into taking a knee at their presence.

— scott springer, Cincinnati.com, "Fairfield fertile with Division I recruits," 4 Aug. 2017
Smoke from the fires blew across bays on the picturesque coast, frightening some.

— Bloomberg.com, "Fires Force Evacuation of 12,000 in 3 French Riviera Towns," 26 July 2017
The Dyson Supersonic has Maserati-level power that frightened me.

— ross kenneth urken, Esquire, "The Secret to Great Hair? Hot Air.," 26 July 2017
No one would be killed, but the fires left this red county in a blue state both focused and frightened.

— randy dotinga, The Christian Science Monitor, "'American Fire' spotlights a troubling rural arson spree solved by old-fashioned legwork," 13 July 2017
Criminals also wield their cellphones like weapons to frighten and steal from unsuspecting people.

— linda trischitta, Sun-Sentinel.com, "I'm gonna be rich! That's what my email says, so it must be true.," 13 July 2017

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'frighten.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

Origin and Etymology of frighten

see ¹fright

NEW! Time Traveler

First Known Use: 1630

See Words from the same year

frighten Synonyms

Synonyms

affright, alarm (also alarum), fright, horrify, panic, scare, scarify, shock, spook, startle, terrify, terrorize, give one the creeps, make one's flesh creep (or crawl)