frighten

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