frighten

verb

fright·​en ˈfrī-tᵊn 

frightened; frightening 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

ˈfrī-tᵊn-iŋ-lē 

ˈfrīt-niŋ-lē

adverb

Synonyms

• scare
• terrify
• startle
• spook

Examples of frighten in a Sentence

The story really frightened me.

The child was badly frightened by the mask.

Recent Examples on the Web

The woman inside banged pots and pans and screamed at the bear to try to frighten it away, officials said. —Don Sweeney, Sacbee.com, 25 June 2025

Winston Churchill said the U-boat peril was the only thing that really frightened him during World War II. —Carl Burdette, Baltimore Sun, 22 June 2025

That forced the director to get crafty, almost inadvertently generating one of the all-time great screen examples of the power of the unseen monster to frighten the wits out of us. —David Rooney, HollywoodReporter, 20 June 2025

Zhou was told that his wife, frightened of the procedure, had run away with the baby. —Barbara Demick, New Yorker, 23 May 2025

Word History

Etymology

fright entry 1 + -en entry 2

First Known Use

1630, in the meaning defined at transitive sense 1

Phrases Containing frighten

• frighten away/off
• frighten into
• frighten out of
• frighten/scare the life out of
• frighten the life out of
• frighten to death

Rhymes for frighten

• brighten
• chitin
• heighten
• lighten
• phaeton
• tighten
• titan
• triton
• whiten
• enlighten
• exciton
• periphyton

Kids Definition

frighten

verb

fright·​en ˈfrīt-ᵊn 

frightened; frightening ˈfrīt-niŋ 

-ᵊn-iŋ

1

: to make afraid : terrify

2

: to drive away or out by frightening

3

: to become frightened

frighteningly

-niŋ-lē 

-ᵊn-iŋ-

adverb