frightened; frightening
ˈfrī-tᵊn-iŋ 
ˈfrīt-niŋ
1
: to make afraid : terrify
The movie scene frightened the child.
2
: to drive or force by frightening
frightened the boy into confessing
: to become frightened
She doesn't frighten easily.
Synonyms
Examples of frighten in a Sentence
The story really frightened me.
The child was badly frightened by the mask.
Recent Examples on the Web
There is nothing frail or frightened about his Scrooge.
—
Christopher Arnott, Hartford Courant, 11 Dec. 2024
The narrative arc of Ghosts follows a gentleman mysteriously endowed with supernatural abilities that frighten the residents of a phantom town.
—Ime Ekpo, Forbes, 31 Oct. 2024
But these videos have gotten increasingly ominous and predatory, even frightening me at times.
—Alyssa Goldberg, USA TODAY, 25 Nov. 2024
Walking into that pitch-black space, not seeing anything while having my eyes wide open exhilarated and frightened me.
—Jeryl Brunner, Forbes, 31 Oct. 2024
See all Example Sentences for frighten 
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Christopher Arnott, Hartford Courant, 11 Dec. 2024
The narrative arc of Ghosts follows a gentleman mysteriously endowed with supernatural abilities that frighten the residents of a phantom town.
—Ime Ekpo, Forbes, 31 Oct. 2024
But these videos have gotten increasingly ominous and predatory, even frightening me at times.
—Alyssa Goldberg, USA TODAY, 25 Nov. 2024
Walking into that pitch-black space, not seeing anything while having my eyes wide open exhilarated and frightened me.
—Jeryl Brunner, Forbes, 31 Oct. 2024
See all Example Sentences for frighten
Dictionary Entries Near frighten
Cite this Entry
“Frighten.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/frighten. Accessed 13 Jan. 2025.
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