- to cause fear in; terrify; scare
- to drive or force to go (away, off, out, in, etc) by making afraid
WordReference Random House Learner's Dictionary of American English © 2026
fright•en•ing /ˈfraɪtənɪŋ/USA pronunciation adj.
WordReference Random House Learner's Dictionary of American English © 2026- causing fear or anxiety.
fright•en /ˈfraɪtən/USA pronunciation
v. [~ + object]
WordReference Random House Unabridged Dictionary of American English © 2026- to (cause to) become frightened:Your story frightened me.
- to drive or force to move by scaring: [~ + away/off + object]to frighten off the pigeons.[~ + object + away/off]to frighten the pigeons away.
fright•en
(frīt′n),USA pronunciation v.t.
v.i.
fright′en•a•ble, adj.
fright′en•er, n.
fright′en•ing•ly, adv.
- to make afraid or fearful;
throw into a fright;
terrify;
scare. - to drive (usually fol. by away, off, etc.) by scaring:to frighten away pigeons from the roof.
v.i.
- to become frightened:a timid child who frightens easily.
- fright + -en1 1660–70
fright′en•er, n.
fright′en•ing•ly, adv.
- 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.
Collins Concise English Dictionary © HarperCollins Publishers::
frighten /ˈfraɪtən/ vb (transitive)
'frightening' also found in these entries (note: many are not synonyms or translations):
eerie
- fearful
- fearsome
- horrid
- horror
- scare
- scarecrow
- scary
- terrific
- terrifying
- apparition
- booger
- bummer
- chiller
- chilly
- creep
- experience
- fear
- freaky
- gallows humor
- ghost
- heartstopper
- horror story
- pause
- perlocutionary
- tremendous