frighten
verb/ˈfraɪtn/
/ˈfraɪtn/
[transitive, intransitive]Verb Forms
Idioms Phrasal Verbs| present simple I / you / we / they frighten | /ˈfraɪtn/ /ˈfraɪtn/ |
| he / she / it frightens | /ˈfraɪtnz/ /ˈfraɪtnz/ |
| past simple frightened | /ˈfraɪtnd/ /ˈfraɪtnd/ |
| past participle frightened | /ˈfraɪtnd/ /ˈfraɪtnd/ |
| -ing form frightening | /ˈfraɪtnɪŋ/ /ˈfraɪtnɪŋ/ |
- to make somebody suddenly feel afraid
- frighten (somebody) Sorry, I didn't mean to frighten you.
- (informal) He used to frighten me to death (= a lot), zooming about on his go-cart.
- She's not easily frightened.
- She doesn't frighten easily (= it is not easy to make her afraid).
- it frightens somebody to think, see, hear, etc… It really frightens me to think how this might have ended.
- it frightens somebody that… It frightened him that she could see so easily into his private thoughts.
Synonyms frightenfrightenscare ▪ alarm ▪ terrifyThese words all mean to make somebody afraid.frighten to make somebody feel afraid, often suddenly:- He brought out a gun and frightened them off.
- They managed to scare the bears away.
- It alarms me that nobody takes this problem seriously.
- Flying terrified her.
- to frighten/scare somebody/something away/off
- to frighten/scare/terrify somebody into doing something
- It frightens/scares/alarms/terrifies me that…
- It frightens/scares/alarms/terrifies me to think, see, etc.
Extra Examples- Don't creep around like that! You frightened the life out of me!
- The prospect of war really frightens me.
- Stop it! You're frightening me!
Oxford Collocations Dictionaryadverb- really
- almost
- easily
- …
- want to
- not mean to
- try to
- …
- frighten somebody to death
- frighten the life out of somebody
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Idioms
See frighten in the Oxford Advanced American DictionarySee frighten in the Oxford Learner's Dictionary of Academic Englishfrighten/scare the (living) daylights out of somebody
- (informal) to frighten somebody very much
frighten/scare the life out of somebody
- (informal) to frighten somebody very much
- You scared the life out of me coming in so suddenly like that.
frighten/scare somebody to death
- (informal) to frighten somebody very much
- Spiders frighten him to death.
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frighten