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frighten. In DICTIOUS you will not only get to know all the dictionary meanings for the word
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English
Alternative forms
Etymology
From Middle English fryghten, equivalent to fright + -en.
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /ˈfɹaɪ.tən/, ,
- Rhymes: -aɪtən
- Hyphenation: frigh‧ten
Verb
frighten (third-person singular simple present frightens, present participle frightening, simple past and past participle frightened)
- (transitive) To cause to feel fear; to scare; to cause to feel alarm or fright.
Avery puts a sheet over her head, pretending to be a ghost to frighten Emily.
1746, Isaac Kimber, “Henry VII”, in The History of England, from the Earliest Accounts to the Accession of His Present Majesty King George II. , page 217:His Deſign was only to frighten France, and get more Money.
1883, Felix Leopold Oswald, “A Step-child of Nature”, in Zoological Sketches A Contribution to the Out-door Study of Natural History, Philadelphia: J. B. Lippincott & Co., page 90:You may frighten a pig, a goose, a frog, and even a fly, but you cannot frighten or surprise a sloth.
1928, E. A. Wallis Budge, transl., The Book of the Saints of the Ethiopian Church A translation of the Ethiopic Synaxarium , volume 1, London: Cambridge University Press, page 220:And he commanded his soldiers […] to frighten them with fierce swords, but the hearts of the holy men did not quail, and they were unable to alter their words.
- (intransitive) To become scared or alarmed.
1898, Franklane L. Sewell, Ida E. Tilson, “White Leghorns”, in The Poultry Herald Manual A Guide to Successful Poultry Keeping, St. Paul, Minnesota: Webb Publishing Company, page 41:In fitting the White Leghorns for exhibition, it must be remembered that they are of nervous disposition and frighten easily.
1959, Harold G. (Hack) Miller, “Rod and gun”, in Hearings , Washington: United States Government Printing Office, page 101:Those male moose at the southeast arm didn't frighten very much when we docked to fly-fish one day. One was so scared of us he just walked toward us and snorted.
1995 April, Jeff Csatari, “Tackle Tips”, in Boys' Life, volume 85, number 4, Irving, Texas: Boy Scouts of America, Inc., →ISSN, page 42:Be sneaky. Fish frighten easily.
Synonyms
Derived terms
Related terms
Translations
to disturb with fear
- Arabic: خَشَّى (ḵaššā), أَفْزَعَ (ʔafzaʕa)
- Moroccan Arabic: خلع (ḵleʕ)
- Armenian: վախեցնել (hy) (vaxecʻnel)
- Azerbaijani: qorxutmaq (az), qorxuzmaq, qorxuya salmaq
- Belarusian: пало́хаць impf (palóxacʹ), спало́хаць pf (spalóxacʹ), страшы́ць impf (strašýcʹ), застрашы́ць pf (zastrašýcʹ)
- Bulgarian: пла́ша (bg) impf (pláša), изпла́швам (bg) impf (izplášvam), изпла́ша pf (izpláša)
- Burmese: ခြောက် (my) (hkrauk)
- Catalan: espantar (ca), espaventar (ca), esporuguir (ca), esgarrifar (ca)
- Chinese:
- Mandarin: 嚇唬/吓唬 (zh) (xiàhu), 嚇/吓 (zh) (xià)
- Czech: vystrašit pf
- Danish: skræmme (da)
- Dutch: bang (nl) maken (nl), beangstigen (nl)
- Esperanto: timigi
- Finnish: pelottaa (fi), säikähdyttää, säikyttää (fi)
- French: effrayer (fr), redouter (fr), terrifier (fr)
- Friulian: spaurî
- Galician: espantar (gl), atemorizar (gl)
- Georgian: შეშინება (šešineba)
- German: Angst machen, erschrecken (de), schrecken (de), beängstigen (de), ängstigen (de)
- Gothic: 𐍉𐌲𐌾𐌰𐌽 (ōgjan)
- Greek: τρομάζω (el) (tromázo)
- Ancient: ἐκφοβέω (ekphobéō), φοβέω (phobéō), φοβερίζω (phoberízō), πτήσσω (ptḗssō)
- Ingrian: pölässyttää, aroittaa
- Irish: cuir eagla ar, scanraigh
- Italian: spaurire (it), spaventare (it)
- Japanese: 怖がらせる (こわがらせる, kowagaraseru)
- Korean: 겁먹게 만들다 (geommeokge mandeulda)
- Kurdish:
- Northern Kurdish: tirsandin (ku)
- Latin: terreō
- Latvian: baidīt, biedēt (lv), biedināt
- Macedonian: плаши impf (plaši), заплаши pf (zaplaši), исплаши pf (isplaši)
- Malay: menakutkan
- Nahuatl: tetzauhqui
- Old English: grēosan
- Oromo: sodaachiisuu
- Pashto: وېرول (werawël)
- Persian: ترساندن (fa) (tarsândan)
- Polabian: ai̯zăsål
- Polish: straszyć (pl) impf, przestraszyć (pl) pf, nastraszyć pf
- Portuguese: intimidar (pt), amedrontar (pt), ameaçar (pt)
- Romanian: speria (ro), înspăimânta (ro)
- Russian: пуга́ть (ru) impf (pugátʹ), испуга́ть (ru) pf (ispugátʹ), напуга́ть (ru) pf (napugátʹ), страши́ть (ru) impf (strašítʹ), устраши́ть (ru) pf (ustrašítʹ)
- Serbo-Croatian:
- Cyrillic: стра̏шити impf, прѐстрашити pf, за̀страшити pf
- Roman: strȁšiti (sh) impf, prèstrašiti (sh) pf, zàstrašiti (sh) pf
- Slovak: vystrašiť pf
- Slovene: strašiti impf, prestrašiti (sl) pf
- Sorbian:
- Lower Sorbian: tšachaś impf
- Spanish: atemorizar (es)
- Swahili: -ogofya (sw), -ogofisha
- Swedish: skrämma (sv)
- Telugu: భయపడు (te) (bhayapaḍu)
- Turkish: korkutmak (tr)
- Ukrainian: ляка́ти impf (ljakáty), зляка́ти pf (zljakáty), страха́ти impf (straxáty), страши́ти impf (strašýty), застраши́ти pf (zastrašýty)
- Vietnamese: làm hoảng sợ
- Walloon: sbarer (wa), fé sogne (wa)
- Welsh: dychryn (cy)
- Zazaki: tersanen
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Anagrams
Middle English
Alternative forms
Etymology
From Old English fyrhtan; equivalent to fright + -en (infinitival suffix).
Pronunciation
Verb
frighten
- To frighten, scare
Conjugation
1Sometimes used as a formal 2nd-person singular.
Descendants
- English: (to) fright (archaic)
References