frighten
[verb]
Synonyms: scare, alarm, intimidate, petrify, shock, startle, terrify, terrorize, unnerve

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Contrasted words: embolden, encourage, hearten, reassure
Related Idioms: curdle the blood, curl the hair, freeze the blood, frighten one out of one's wits, give one a scare, give one a turn, make one's blood run cold, make one's flesh creep, make one's hair stand on end, make one's teeth chatter, make one tremble, put one's heart in one's mouth, scare hell out of, scare one spitless, scare one stiff, scare the life out of, scare the pants off of, scare to death, strike terror into, take one's breath away
Related Words: appall, astound, daunt, disconcert, dismay, faze, horrify, shock, demoralize, unman, unnerve, browbeat, bulldoze, cow, intimidate, agitate, discompose, disquiet, perturb, upset

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English Thesaurus: fear, terror, fright, panic, alarm, ...

[TahlilGaran] English Synonym Dictionary ▲

fright‧en /ˈfraɪtn/ verb [transitive]
[Word Family: adjective: frightened, frightening, frightful; noun: fright, frighteners; adverb: frighteningly, frightfully; verb: frighten]
to make someone feel afraid Synonym : 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 somebody to death/frighten the life out of somebody (=make someone feel extremely afraid)
He drove at a speed which frightened Lara to death.

[TahlilGaran] Dictionary of Contemporary English ▲

frighten
verb
ADV. really The prospect of war really frightens me.
quite | almost | easily a man who doesn't frighten easily (= become frightened easily)
VERB + FRIGHTEN want to | not mean to I didn't mean to frighten you.
try to
PHRASES frighten sb out of their wits, frighten sb to death, frighten the life out of sb (all informal) Don't creep around like that! You frightened the life out of me!

[TahlilGaran] Collocations Dictionary ▲

fear a feeling of being frightened:
He was trembling with fear.
Fear of failure should not stop you trying.
terror a feeling of great fear, because you think that something terrible is about to happen:
She let out a scream of pure terror.
fright a sudden feeling of fear, or a situation that makes you feel this:
My body was shaking with fright.
You gave me a fright!
He’s had a bit of fright, that’s all.
panic a sudden feeling of fear or nervousness that makes you unable to think clearly or behave sensibly:
She was in such a panic that she hardly knew what she was doing!
There were scenes of sheer panic immediately following the bomb blast.
alarm a feeling of fear or worry which shows in your voice or behaviour, because you think something bad might happen:
When I mentioned her name, he looked up at me in alarm.
The streets were calm and there was no sign of alarm.
foreboding /fɔːˈbəʊdɪŋ $ fɔːrˈboʊ-/ a feeling that something bad or unpleasant might happen although there is no obvious reason why it should:
She felt the same sense of foreboding she had before her father died.
phobia /ˈfəʊbiə $ ˈfoʊ-/ a permanent strong unreasonable fear of something:
I had a phobia about going to the dentist.
frighten to make someone feel afraid:
The thought of being in court frightened him.
scare especially spoken to frighten someone. Scare is less formal than frighten, and is the usual word to use in everyday English:
He was driving fast just to scare us.
It scared him to think that his mother might never recover.
terrify to make someone feel extremely frightened:
The idea of going down into the caves terrified her.
Robbers terrified bank staff by threatening them at gunpoint.
give somebody a fright to make someone suddenly feel frightened in a way that makes their heart beat more quickly:
It gave me a terrible fright when I found him unconscious on the floor.
give somebody the creeps if a person or place gives you the creeps, they make you feel slightly frightened because they are strange:
This house gives me the creeps.
startle to frighten someone. Used when you suddenly see someone and did not know they were there, or when you suddenly hear something:
I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to startle you.
The noise startled him, and he dropped his glass on the floor.
intimidate to deliberately frighten someone, especially so that they will do what you want:
Many of the gangs were using dogs to intimidate people.

[TahlilGaran] English Thesaurus ▲

frighten to make someone feel afraid:
The thought of being in court frightened him.
scare especially spoken to frighten someone. Scare is less formal than frighten, and is the usual word to use in everyday English:
He was driving fast just to scare us.
It scared him to think that his mother might never recover.
terrify to make someone feel extremely frightened:
The idea of going down into the caves terrified her.
Robbers terrified bank staff by threatening them at gunpoint.
give somebody a fright to make someone suddenly feel frightened in a way that makes their heart beat more quickly:
It gave me a terrible fright when I found him unconscious on the floor.
give somebody the creeps if a person or place gives you the creeps, they make you feel slightly frightened because they are strange:
This house gives me the creeps.
startle to frighten someone. Used when you suddenly see someone and did not know they were there, or when you suddenly hear something:
I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to startle you.
The noise startled him, and he dropped his glass on the floor.
alarm to make someone feel frightened and worried that something bad might happen:
I didn’t want to alarm her by calling in the middle of the night.
intimidate to deliberately frighten someone, especially so that they will do what you want:
Many of the gangs were using dogs to intimidate people.

[TahlilGaran] English Thesaurus ▲