frighten
2 ENTRIES FOUND:
frightens;
frightened;
frightening
frightens;
frightened;
frightening
Britannica Dictionary definition of FRIGHTEN
1
[+ object]
:
to cause (someone) to become afraid
-
The story really frightened me.
-
The child was badly frightened by the mask.
-
The story nearly frightened me to death. = The story nearly frightened the life out of me. [=the story frightened me very badly]
2
[no object]
:
to become afraid
-
She doesn't frighten easily.
frighten away/off
[phrasal verb]
frighten (someone or something) away/off
:
to cause (someone or something) to go away or stay away because of fear
-
The dog frightened the prowler away.
-
Tourists have been frightened off by the violence in the city.
frighten into
[phrasal verb]
frighten (someone) into (doing something)
:
to cause (someone) to do (something) because of fear
-
The insurance agent tried to frighten her into buying the most expensive flood insurance.
-
They frightened the boy into confessing his crime.
frighten out of
[phrasal verb]
frighten (someone) out of (doing something)
:
to keep (someone) from (doing something) because of fear
-
Bad economic news has frightened people out of putting their money in the stock market.
— frightened
adjective [more frightened; most frightened]-
Are you frightened [=afraid] of dogs?
-
a badly/very frightened child
— frightening
adjective [more frightening; most frightening]-
There were frightening noises outside my tent.
-
a frightening mask
— frighteningly
adverb-
The car came frighteningly close to the guardrail.
-
It is frighteningly [=extremely] easy to mislead voters.
