frighten

A2 Topic:Actions & Processes

US /ˈfɹaɪ.tən/ See IPA manual

Freq #6923

Meanings

1

verb
To make someone feel afraid or scared.

The huge dog frightened the little boy.
2

verb
To make someone go away by scaring them.

The farmer used a scarecrow to frighten the birds away.

Verb forms

Verb forms are not available for this word yet.

Multiword verbs with frighten

frighten away Phrasal verb A2

to make someone or something leave because of fear
frighten off Phrasal verb A2

to make someone or something go away by causing fear

Thesaurus

Synonyms

1 verb · to make someone feel afraid... scare affright

More alarm appall dismay fray grill harrow horrify mortify petrify spook

Word family

Forms frightens

Derived forms frightenablefrightenerfrighteningfrightensomeoverfrightenunfrighten

Related forms afraidasustarcoward disheartening fear fright nervous

Appears in

Phrases (2)

See all

Etymology

From Middle English *frightenen, equivalent to fright + -en.

*frightenen Middle English

View etymology graph ->

Topics

Actions & Processes

External links

# frighten

**Type:** Word
**Level:** A2
**Part of speech:** verb
**IPA (US):** /ˈfɹaɪ.tən/
**Frequency rank:** 6923

## Meanings
1. To make someone feel afraid or scared.
2. To make someone go away by scaring them.

## Examples
- The huge dog frightened the little boy.
- The farmer used a scarecrow to frighten the birds away.

## Synonyms
- affright
- alarm
- appall
- dismay
- fray
- grill
- harrow
- horrify
- mortify
- petrify
- scare
- spook

## Derived Forms
- frightenable
- frightener
- frightening
- frightensome
- overfrighten
- unfrighten

## Related Forms
- afraid
- asustar
- coward
- disheartening
- fear
- fright
- nervous

## Roots and Affixes
- Root: *frightenen

## Etymology
From Middle English *frightenen, equivalent to fright + -en.

## AI Etymology
Frighten comes from Middle English *frightenen, equivalent to fright + -en. In current use, the main senses are “To make someone feel afraid or scared” and “To make someone go away by scaring them”.

## Topics
- Actions & Processes

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