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.
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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
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Frightened by his outburst, Mangum and her friend moved to the back of the train.
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The cheetah at times would jump into the orchestra pit, frightening the musicians.
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But there’s nothing funny about it when bullies turn food into a weapon to frighten or harm those with allergies.
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As someone who treasured independence, the concept of being trapped in his own body frightened him.
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When a door slammed loudly at half past five in the morning, Rihanna got frightened.
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On one peculiar Indonesian island, giant birds may have frightened some of our evolutionary cousins.
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
First Known Use: 1630
FRIGHTEN Defined for English Language Learners
frighten
playDefinition of frighten for English Language Learners
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: to cause (someone) to become afraid
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: to become afraid
FRIGHTEN Defined for Kids
Learn More about frighten
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See words that rhyme with frighten Thesaurus: All synonyms and antonyms for frighten Spanish Central: Translation of frighten Nglish: Translation of frighten for Spanish speakers Britannica English: Translation of frighten for Arabic speakers
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