frighten

frighten
frightenable, adj.frightener, n.frighteningly, adv.
/fruyt"n/, v.t.
1. to make afraid or fearful; throw into a fright; terrify; scare.
2. to drive (usually fol. by away, off, etc.) by scaring: to frighten away pigeons from the roof.
v.i.
3. to become frightened: a timid child who frightens easily.
[1660-70; FRIGHT + -EN1]
Syn. 1. shock, startle, dismay, intimidate. FRIGHTEN, ALARM, SCARE, TERRIFY, TERRORIZE, APPALL all mean to arouse fear in people or animals. TO FRIGHTEN is to shock with sudden, startling, but usually short-lived fear, esp. that arising from the apprehension of physical harm: to frighten someone by a sudden noise. TO ALARM is to arouse the feelings through the realization of some imminent or unexpected danger: to alarm someone by a scream. TO SCARE is to frighten, often without the presence of real danger: Horror movies really scare me.
TO TERRIFY is to strike with violent, overwhelming, or paralyzing fear: to terrify a city by lawless acts. To TERRORIZE is to terrify in a general, continued, systematic manner, either wantonly or in order to gain control: His marauding armies terrorized the countryside. TO APPALL is to overcome or confound by dread, dismay, shock, or horror: The suffering caused by the earthquake appalled him.

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Universalium. 2010.

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  • frighten — frighten, fright, scare, alarm, terrify, terrorize, startle, affray, affright mean to strike or to fill with fear or dread. Frighten is perhaps the most frequent in use; it is the most inclusive, for it may range in implicaton from a momentary… …   New Dictionary of Synonyms

  • frighten — [frīt′ n] vt. 1. to cause to feel fright; make suddenly afraid; scare; terrify 2. to force (away, out, or off) or bring ( into a specified condition) by making afraid [to frighten someone into confessing] vi. to become suddenly afraid… …   English World dictionary

  • frighten — 1660s, from FRIGHT (Cf. fright) + EN (Cf. en) (1). Related: Frightened; frightening. The earlier verb was simply fright (O.E. fyrhtan) to frighten …   Etymology dictionary

  • frighten — ► VERB 1) cause to be afraid. 2) (frighten off) drive away by fear. DERIVATIVES frightened adjective frightening adjective frighteningly adverb …   English terms dictionary

  • Frighten — Fright en, v. t. [imp. {Frightened}; p. pr. & vb. n. {Frightening}.] [See {Fright}, v. t.] To disturb with fear; to throw into a state of alarm or fright; to affright; to terrify. [1913 Webster] More frightened than hurt. Old Proverb. [1913… …   The Collaborative International Dictionary of English

  • frighten — I verb affright, alarm, browbeat, bully, bullyrag, cow, daunt, deter, disquiet, exterrere, fright, give cause for alarm, horrify, intimidate, menace, panic, petrify, raise apprehension, scare, shock, shock with sudden fear, startle, strike with… …   Law dictionary

  • frighten — [v] shock, scare affright, agitate, alarm, appall, astound, awe, browbeat*, bulldoze*, chill, chill to the bone*, cow, curdle the blood*, daunt, demoralize, deter, disburb, discomfort, disconcert, discourage, dishearten, dismay, disquiet, faze,… …   New thesaurus

  • frighten — v. 1) (d; tr.) to frighten into (to frighten smb. into submission) 2) (d; tr.) to frighten out of (to frighten smb. out of doing smt.) 3) (misc.) to frighten smb. to death * * * (misc.) to frighten smb. to death (d; tr.) to frighten into (to… …   Combinatory dictionary

  • frighten — fright|en [ˈfraıtn] v [T] to make someone feel afraid = ↑scare ▪ Don t stand so near the edge! You re frightening me. ▪ She was frightened by the anger in his eyes. ▪ Computers used to frighten me, but not now. frighten sb to death/frighten the… …   Dictionary of contemporary English

  • frighten */*/ — UK [ˈfraɪt(ə)n] / US verb [transitive] Word forms frighten : present tense I/you/we/they frighten he/she/it frightens present participle frightening past tense frightened past participle frightened to make someone feel afraid, especially suddenly …   English dictionary

  • frighten — verb ADVERB ▪ really ▪ The prospect of war really frightens me. ▪ almost ▪ easily ▪ a man who doesn t frighten easily (= become frightened easily) …   Collocations dictionary

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