as in terrifying
causing fear
a truly frightening movie
Synonyms & Similar Words
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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
as in scaring
to strike with fear
around the campfire the campers tried to frighten one another with ghostly legends and grisly tales
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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of frightening
Brian Boone, Vulture, 10 June 2025
In an economy already struggling with inflation, the prospect of skyrocketing gasoline prices was too frightening to hazard.
—Edward Fishman, Foreign Affairs, 4 June 2025
The expression on the girl’s face is even more frightening than the infinite maw.
—Emily Temple
may 29, Literary Hub, 29 May 2025
The ensuing action is gory and frightening — and even Wong got a little spooked by Hawkins.
—Eric Andersson, People.com, 31 May 2025
See All Example Sentences for frightening
Adjective
There’s much class-ditching, partying, and trips to fun Chicago spots until Preach and Cochise run into some very dangerous people out in that frightening real world.
—Brian Boone, Vulture, 10 June 2025
In an economy already struggling with inflation, the prospect of skyrocketing gasoline prices was too frightening to hazard.
—Edward Fishman, Foreign Affairs, 4 June 2025
The expression on the girl’s face is even more frightening than the infinite maw.
—Emily Temple
may 29, Literary Hub, 29 May 2025
The ensuing action is gory and frightening — and even Wong got a little spooked by Hawkins.
—Eric Andersson, People.com, 31 May 2025
See All Example Sentences for frightening
Recent Examples of Synonyms for frightening
Adjective
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More: Ukraine drone attack shows familiar-looking drones can be terrifying weapons How does the Pentagon, which spends nearly a trillion dollars a year on defense, have such a vulnerability?—
Tom Vanden Brook,
USA Today,
8 June 2025
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Everyone's fighting power is so terrifying, but the only thing missing is the XBOX robe...—
Paul Tassi,
Forbes.com,
6 June 2025
Adjective
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Make that the second scariest, as Claire’s antics bring another menacing character into their lives, when her dealer, Jackie (Domhnall Gleeson), shows up at Echo Valley looking for 10 grand in heroin.—
Peter Debruge,
Variety,
7 June 2025
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Both events offer live entertainment, themed food, and access to select park attractions with generally shorter wait times than during the day How scary is Universal Halloween Horror Nights?—
Eve Chen,
USA Today,
6 June 2025
Adjective
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Sinha’s strategic interventions have substantially scaled up businesses, powering a formidable sales pipeline by assisting the company in landing enterprise-level engagements.—
Daniel Fusch,
USA Today,
3 June 2025
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Everything points to the fact that Karolína’s exceptional talent has caught the attention of the formidable and much admired choirmaster.—
Leo Barraclough,
Variety,
3 June 2025
Verb
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Jung-bae wound up in a room of three, with Player 001 and some rando — but Player 001 choked the stranger to death in time to reduce their head count, shocking Jung-bae more than a bit.—
Matt Webb Mitovich,
TVLine,
26 Dec. 2024
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Fox News Digital obtained shocking audio between Cyrus and his estranged wife where the country crooner is heard berating his Australian ex and using profane language.—
Ashley Hume,
Fox News,
26 Dec. 2024
Adjective
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Even with the horrible start the Red Sox still nearly came all the way back, twice drawing to within one run, but the club couldn’t get over the hump.—
Mac Cerullo,
Boston Herald,
3 June 2025
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We were made aware of this horrible activity by Priscilla Olivarez from ILRC, at our annual conference Convening 2025, held in San Antonio.—
Billal Rahman,
MSNBC Newsweek,
2 June 2025
Adjective
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Kids these days have attention spans crushed under the terrible weight of TikTok and Instgram.—
Erik Kain,
Forbes.com,
3 June 2025
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My heart goes out to the victims of this terrible tragedy, and the Great People of Boulder, Colorado!—
Dan Mangan,
CNBC,
2 June 2025
Adjective
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Hristo Stoichkov played with an intimidating edge that could both win games and cross an unforgivable line.—
Simon Hughes,
New York Times,
7 June 2025
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Judith Collins, the committee chair, said the lawmakers’ behavior was egregious, disruptive, and potentially intimidating.—
Charlotte Graham-McLay,
Christian Science Monitor,
5 June 2025
Cite this Entry
“Frightening.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/frightening. Accessed 17 Jun. 2025.
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