as in to scare
to strike with fear
around the campfire the campers tried to frighten one another with ghostly legends and grisly tales
Synonyms & Similar Words
Relevance
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
as in terrifying
causing fear
a truly frightening movie
Synonyms & Similar Words
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
Synonyms & Similar Words
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
Example Sentences
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to
show current usage.
Read More
Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors.
Send us feedback.
Recent Examples of frighten
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
Kate Erbland, IndieWire, 4 July 2025
Reservoir Dogs and Kill Bill star Michael Madsen, who died Thursday, once said that some of his characters were too frightening for their own good.
—Tim Lammers, Forbes.com, 3 July 2025
See All Example Sentences for frighten
Verb
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
Adjective
Not the terrifying or the scary or frightening, the horrifying.
—Kate Erbland, IndieWire, 4 July 2025
Reservoir Dogs and Kill Bill star Michael Madsen, who died Thursday, once said that some of his characters were too frightening for their own good.
—Tim Lammers, Forbes.com, 3 July 2025
See All Example Sentences for frighten
Recent Examples of Synonyms for frighten
Adjective
-
For Bertram, whose family winery has roots deep in the terraced vineyards of the valley, the night was a blur of frantic decisions and terrifying uncertainty.—
Christopher Elliott,
Forbes.com,
13 July 2025
-
But this is still grand blockbuster filmmaking: The scene where bombs explode across Gotham is as memorable and terrifying as anything in the series.—
Tim Grierson,
Vulture,
11 July 2025
Adjective
-
The filmmakers used the sounds of babies crying to make a scary noise In the film, the bad people go to a bad afterlife, and they’re taken there by creepy, inky shadow things.—
Drew Mackie,
People.com,
13 July 2025
-
Some of it was pretty scary, but Lu was very supportive and helpful, and so was his producer, Matt.—
Max Gao,
HollywoodReporter,
12 July 2025
Adjective
-
In short, because the Ukrainians have put up a formidable defense.—
Nick Vivarelli,
Variety,
9 July 2025
-
Williams, 62, previously headed Apple's formidable operations division, which is in charge of manufacturing millions of complicated devices like iPhones, while keeping costs down.—
Kif Leswing,
CNBC,
8 July 2025
Adjective
-
The market is just full of butcher shops, with the most ghastly whole pigs and halves of steers hanging from horrible hooks.—
John Updike,
New Yorker,
11 July 2025
-
For many who were directly affected by the flood, these post-flood days have been like waking up from a horrible nightmare.—
Bea L. Hines,
Miami Herald,
11 July 2025
Adjective
-
Vegas bounced back from a terrible loss to the Fever with an 86-68 win over the Sun on Sunday.—
Kilty Cleary,
MSNBC Newsweek,
8 July 2025
-
And because of that, it’s shielded us from the terrible things that happen downstream in the supply chain.—
Alexandra Harrell,
Sourcing Journal,
8 July 2025
Adjective
-
While the ingredients were simmering, Innis shared that the key to making dinner less overwhelming and intimidating for working people is having your ingredients and materials prepared ahead of time.—
Dominique Fluker,
Essence,
6 July 2025
-
By limiting the commitment to just five minutes, the task feels more manageable and less intimidating.—
Dr. Faye Begeti,
CNBC,
23 June 2025
Cite this Entry
“Frighten.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/frighten. Accessed 21 Jul. 2025.
Copy CitationLove words? Need even more definitions?
Merriam-Webster unabridged
Share