as in to scare
to strike with fear
around the campfire the campers tried to frighten one another with ghostly legends and grisly tales
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Recent Examples of frighten
In Clueless, Harriet has become a tacky high-school newcomer, Tai (Brittany Murphy), frightened by rough-housing boys at the mall.
—
Tom Gliatto, People.com, 19 July 2025
Methods that ranchers can currently use to control wolves include making loud noises to frighten them off, building fences to keep them out of pastureland and increasing the presence of humans on ranches at night as a deterrent, the state’s guidelines for non-lethal ways to control wolves say.
—Sacbee.com, 1 Aug. 2025
Garcia, who joined DeSantis at the press conference, suggested people are frightened by them.
—Skyler Swisher, The Orlando Sentinel, 14 July 2025
That what was found on that journey often tied to our actual fears somehow satisfied and frightened us at the same time.
—Jody Mamone, Hartford Courant, 21 June 2025
See All Example Sentences for frighten
Tom Gliatto, People.com, 19 July 2025
Methods that ranchers can currently use to control wolves include making loud noises to frighten them off, building fences to keep them out of pastureland and increasing the presence of humans on ranches at night as a deterrent, the state’s guidelines for non-lethal ways to control wolves say.
—Sacbee.com, 1 Aug. 2025
Garcia, who joined DeSantis at the press conference, suggested people are frightened by them.
—Skyler Swisher, The Orlando Sentinel, 14 July 2025
That what was found on that journey often tied to our actual fears somehow satisfied and frightened us at the same time.
—Jody Mamone, Hartford Courant, 21 June 2025
See All Example Sentences for frighten
Recent Examples of Synonyms for frighten
Verb
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Some, scared off by the complexity of picking a policy and by the price tags, tumble over the edge and go without insurance in a health system where the rate for an emergency room visit can be thousands, if not tens of thousands, of dollars.—
Elisabeth Rosenthal,
Miami Herald,
12 Aug. 2025
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Effectively scaring a bear also reinforces the person as dominant in an encounter, so the bear learns to avoid people.—
Staff report,
Hartford Courant,
9 Aug. 2025
Verb
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These are the hallmarks of the Alien franchise, which have remained mostly consistent across the seven movies (plus two vacuous Alien vs. Predator crossovers) that have kept those terrifying Xenomorphs coming back to our screens every decade since the original premiered in 1979.—
Judy Berman,
Time,
5 Aug. 2025
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She too is terrified of facing her father, played by Cheon Ho-jin.—
Joan MacDonald,
Forbes.com,
2 Aug. 2025
Verb
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Also, when purchasing hiking gear to wear for gorilla trekking, buy only neutral colors—like army green, khaki, black, and tan — to avoid startling them and drawing extra attention to yourself.—
Claire Gallam,
Travel + Leisure,
23 July 2025
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However, the unexpected authenticity of the situation to her Memphis roots initially startled the artist.—
Marcus K. Dowling,
The Tennessean,
2 July 2025
Verb
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Rockets, satellites and other space hardware tend to be extremely expensive to build and highly risky to operate — both factors that can spook investors.—
Jackie Wattles,
CNN Money,
7 Aug. 2025
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Expecting an audience to be spooked by a sinister figure who’s like Phyllis Diller crossed with Friar Tuck and Amy Sedaris’ Jerri Blank on Strangers with Candy is a tall order.—
David Rooney,
HollywoodReporter,
5 Aug. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Frighten.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/frighten. Accessed 20 Aug. 2025.
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