frighten

frighten — verb

1. to make a person or animal suddenly feel fear or worry, often because of somethi

1.verbtransitiveB1
Definition

to make a person or animal suddenly feel fear or worry, often because of something unexpected or dangerous

Example

Sari's sudden shout frightened the baby, who started crying.

transitive with direct object (the baby)

The loud thunder frightened Elena so much that she hid under her bed.

result clause: so much that...

Common collocations
  • frighten easily
  • frighten badly
  • frighten someone to death
  • frighten the life out of someone
Synonyms
  • scare

    more informal and common in everyday conversation; 'frighten' is slightly more formal

  • startle

    suggests a sudden, brief surprise rather than lasting fear

  • alarm

    implies worry about potential danger rather than immediate fear

  • terrify

    much stronger; suggests extreme, overwhelming fear

Antonyms
  • reassure

    to make someone feel less worried or afraid

  • calm

    to make someone feel peaceful and not afraid

Grammar Patterns

frighten + noun phrase

be + frightened + by/of + noun phrase

It frightens + sb + to-infinitive / when-clause

Usage Note

Frequently used in the passive (be frightened by/of). The adjective frightened is followed by of (frightened of spiders) or by (frightened by the noise). Distinguish from Sense 2 by the absence of a directional result — this sense describes the emotion only, without implying movement or change of location.

Common Mistakes

I am frightening of spiders.
I am frightened of spiders.
The -ing form is for things that cause fear; the -ed form describes the person who feels fear.
The news frightened me to go home early.
The news frightened me, so I went home early.
Frighten does not take a to-infinitive to express result; use a separate clause with so or because instead.
She was frighten by the loud sound.
She was frightened by the loud sound.
The passive always requires the past participle form frightened, not the bare stem.

2. to force a person or animal to leave a place or stay away from it by making them

2.verbtransitiveB2
Definition

to force a person or animal to leave a place or stay away from it by making them feel frightened

Example

The scarecrow frightened the crows away from the farmer's vegetable patch.

phrasal verb: frighten + away + from

Lucía's loud music frightened off the neighbors who had just moved in.

phrasal verb: frighten + off

Common collocations
  • frighten people away
  • frighten customers away
  • frighten birds off
  • frighten the neighbours away
Synonyms
  • scare away

    more informal and common in casual speech; 'frighten away' is slightly more formal

  • drive off

    focuses on the result of leaving rather than the method (fear)

  • deter

    more formal; suggests preventing rather than actively forcing to leave

Antonyms
  • attract

    to make someone or something come closer

  • lure

    to persuade someone to come by offering something appealing

Grammar Patterns

frighten + sb/sth + away/off

frighten + sb/sth + into/out of + noun/gerund

Usage Note

Only transitive. The object is typically an animal or person who leaves or stays away as a result of fear. The most common particles are away and off (both meaning 'drive off') and into (meaning 'coerce through fear'). The coerced action after into takes a gerund (frightened him into leaving).

Common Mistakes

She frightened the dog away of the garden.
She frightened the dog away from the garden.
Use from to indicate the place being left, not of.
They frightened the robber into leaving the store.' (correct but sometimes confused with 'of')
Keep into + gerund
'frightened him into giving back the money.' — The pattern is into + doing something, not of + doing something.
Phrasal verbs

frighten somebody/something away/off

phrasal verb

to make a person or animal leave or stay away by making them feel frightened

The bright garden lights frightened off the foxes that had been digging up the flowers.

Kemi worried that her demanding attitude would frighten away the new volunteers.

frighten somebody into doing something

phrasal verb

to make someone do something by threatening them or making them feel afraid

The older children frightened the younger boy into giving them his lunch money.

Tendai was frightened into signing the contract without reading it carefully.

frighten away

phrasal verb

To cause a person or animal to leave because of fear.

The loud music frightened away the birds from the garden.

His angry tone frightened away all potential friends.

frighten away from

phrasal verb

To cause someone to avoid doing something because of fear.

The high cost frightened them away from buying the house.

Her bad experience frightened her away from swimming in the ocean.

frighten into

phrasal verb

To force someone to do something by making them afraid.

The bully frightened the boy into giving him his lunch money.

They frightened the witness into changing his story.

frighten into doing

phrasal verb

To force someone to do something by making them afraid.

The threats frightened the manager into resigning from his job.

She was frightened into signing the contract against her will.

frighten off

phrasal verb

To cause someone or something to go away by making them afraid.

The security guard's shout frightened off the thief.

The high price tag frightened off many potential buyers.

Idioms

frighten/scare the life out of someone

idiom

to frighten someone extremely severely

The way the car swerved across the road frightened the life out of everyone on the bus.

Mira's younger brother jumped out from behind the door and scared the life out of her.

frighten/scare someone to death

idiom

to make someone feel extremely frightened

The loud explosion in the middle of the night frightened the whole village to death.

Mayumi was scared to death when she saw the snake curled up inside her shoe.

frighten/scare somebody to death

idiom

To make someone extremely frightened.

The spider on her pillow frightened Sara to death.

Don't sneak up on me like that; you scared me to death!

Word family

Synonym discussion

Sense: verb/1

All five verbs describe causing fear, but they differ in intensity, formality, and duration. Frighten (B1) is the neutral, all-purpose term — suitable for both mild and strong fear in any register. Scare (A2) is its everyday informal counterpart; native speakers use scare in casual conversation far more often than frighten. Alarm (B1) implies sudden worry about a potential threat rather than immediate terror — for example, a smoke alarm might alarm you without terrifying you. Startle (B1) refers to a very brief surprise-fear reaction that passes quickly, like when someone taps you from behind. Terrify (B2) is the strongest of the group, suggesting overwhelming, paralysing fear. 'The sudden knock at the door startled her, but the stranger's menacing expression terrified her.'

frighten ↗scare ↗alarm ↗startle ↗terrify ↗

Common collocations

Nouns

  • children
  • animals
  • birds
  • neighbors
  • customers
  • thieves
  • cats
  • dogs

Adverbs

Phrases

  • frighten the life out of
  • frighten to death
  • frighten the wits out of
  • frighten the daylights out of

Prepositions

Etymology

Old EnglishMiddle EnglishEnglish

Frighten was formed in Middle English by adding the verb suffix -en to the noun fright (from Old English fyrhto, meaning 'fear, trembling'). The core meaning of 'causing fear' has remained stable since the 16th century, while the phrasal extensions (frighten away, frighten into) developed later in Modern English.