as in to scare
to strike with fear
around the campfire the campers tried to frighten one another with ghostly legends and grisly tales
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Recent Examples of frighten
Lawmakers say that the harsh punishments are necessary to deter students from making hoax threats that frighten students and teachers and waste time and resources to investigate.
—
Aliyya Swaby, ProPublica, 8 Feb. 2025
An American Airlines flight was forced to turn back around after a disruptive passenger began to frighten other passengers on the way from New York to Milan on Tuesday, April 8, the airline said.
—Charna Flam, People.com, 10 Apr. 2025
This includes any behaviors that intimidate, manipulate, humiliate, isolate, frighten, terrorize, coerce, threaten, blame, hurt, injure, or wound someone.
—Zameena Mejia, Refinery29, 8 Apr. 2025
The king of the forest was once frightened by the sound of a bull.
—John Nemec, The Conversation, 7 Apr. 2025
See All Example Sentences for frighten
Aliyya Swaby, ProPublica, 8 Feb. 2025
An American Airlines flight was forced to turn back around after a disruptive passenger began to frighten other passengers on the way from New York to Milan on Tuesday, April 8, the airline said.
—Charna Flam, People.com, 10 Apr. 2025
This includes any behaviors that intimidate, manipulate, humiliate, isolate, frighten, terrorize, coerce, threaten, blame, hurt, injure, or wound someone.
—Zameena Mejia, Refinery29, 8 Apr. 2025
The king of the forest was once frightened by the sound of a bull.
—John Nemec, The Conversation, 7 Apr. 2025
See All Example Sentences for frighten
Recent Examples of Synonyms for frighten
Verb
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The Missouri product is a solid route-runner with sure hands, but there are some off-field concerns that could scare teams away.—
Nicholas Creel,
MSNBC Newsweek,
20 Apr. 2025
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As the Trump administration arbitrarily revokes and denies student visas, and xenophobic rhetoric scares away potential foreigners, agencies specializing in recruiting students from abroad are facing a sharp downturn.—
Emma Whitford,
Forbes.com,
17 Apr. 2025
Verb
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Robbins’ parents were terrified that the school was using the laptop to spy on their son and other students (including their daughter Paige).—
Barry Levitt,
Time,
8 Apr. 2025
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The thought of dying without finding out what happened to her son terrifies Petrone.—
Faith Karimi,
CNN Money,
6 Apr. 2025
Verb
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In a now-viral video from Stacy Goss, the family was startled by the sight of a huge bald eagle gawking at them, but more concerningly, at their dog Gnocchi.—
Rachel Raposas,
People.com,
11 Apr. 2025
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Area residents might remember similar sights of helicopters in 2023, when the sounds of gunfire and explosions from military training startled some in the Kansas City metro.—
Kendrick Calfee,
Kansas City Star,
9 Apr. 2025
Verb
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The proposal never went before voters with Republicans, then in control of the General Assembly, politically spooked at the prospect of losing power by backing a tax-hike initiative after the Edgar administration had denied such plans were afoot.—
Bob Goldsborough,
Chicago Tribune,
8 Apr. 2025
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Wall Street has been spooked by Mr. Trump's growing trade war, with economists warning that the conflict could slam economic growth and even potentially trigger a recession.—
Aimee Picchi,
CBS News,
7 Apr. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Frighten.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/frighten. Accessed 22 Apr. 2025.
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