Another word for frighten
a-z
Verb
To fill with fear
- Sudden intense fear, as of something immediately threatening.
- Something extremely unsightly, alarming, or strange:
- To frighten.
- To fill or overpower with terror; terrify.
- To coerce or intimidate by causing fear.
- To fill with terror; make deeply afraid:
- To drive or force by arousing fear:
- To cause to make a quick involuntary movement or start.
- To alarm, frighten, or surprise suddenly.
- To become alarmed, frightened, or surprised.
- To make shallow cuts in (the skin), as when vaccinating.
- To create a design on (the skin) by means of shallow cuts that are sometimes rubbed with a colorant or irritant to enhance the resulting scar tissue.
- To break up the surface of (topsoil or pavement).
- To strike with sudden fear; alarm.
- To become frightened:
- A condition or sensation of sudden fear:
- A sudden, overpowering feeling of fear, often affecting many people at once.
- A state of extreme anxiety, such as that involved in a panic attack.
- A state of frantic activity, usually accompanied by extreme concern or anxiety:
- Sudden fear or concern caused by the realization of danger or an impending setback.
- A warning of existing or approaching danger:
- A device that is used to warn of danger by means of a sound or signal:
- To arouse fear in; terrify:
- Great fear; terror.
- A cause of terror.
© Roget’s II: The New Thesaurus Copyright © 2010 by Wiley Publishing, Inc., Cleveland, Ohio. Used by arrangement with John Wiley & Sons, Inc.
Another word for frighten
Verb
To strike with fear
- To make a person feel emotionally moved in a pleasant way.
- A ghost; a specter.
- A secret agent; a spy.
- Used as a disparaging term for a black person.
- To arouse fear in; terrify:
- Great fear; terror.
- A cause of terror.
- To take away characteristics traditionally associated with masculinity, such as courage or strength:
- To take away virility from; emasculate:
- A farm implement consisting of a heavy frame with sharp teeth or upright disks, used to break up and even off plowed ground.
- To break up and level (soil or land) with a harrow.
- To inflict great distress or torment on.
- To cause to lose courage or firmness of purpose:
- Mental or bodily distress.
- Something that disturbs one's comfort; an annoyance.
- To make uncomfortable; distress.
- To disrupt the composure of; disconcert.
- To deprive of peace or rest; trouble.
- Absence of peace or rest; anxiety.
- Uneasy; restless.
- To break up or destroy the tranquility, order, or settled state of:
- To trouble emotionally or mentally; upset:
- To interfere with; interrupt:
- To disturb or confuse; make uneasy or anxious:
- To cause (a system) to become altered or imbalanced from a normal state:
- To cause perturbation in (the orbit of a celestial body, for example) by gravitational interaction.
- A feeling of respect or reverence mixed with dread and wonder, often inspired by something majestic or powerful:
- The power to inspire dread.
- Dread.
- To fill with horror and amazement; dismay greatly:
- To cause to feel horror:
- To cause unpleasant surprise to; shock:
- To undermine the confidence or morale of; dishearten:
- To put into disorder; confuse.
- To debase the morals of; corrupt.
- A sudden, overpowering feeling of fear, often affecting many people at once.
- A state of extreme anxiety, such as that involved in a panic attack.
- A state of frantic activity, usually accompanied by extreme concern or anxiety:
- To convert (wood or other organic matter) into a stony replica by petrifaction.
- To cause to lose vitality or become impervious to change; deaden:
- To stun or paralyze with terror; daze.
- Any of several carnivorous burrowing mammals of the family Mustelidae, such as Meles meles of Eurasia or Taxidea taxus of North America, having short legs, long claws on the front feet, and a heavy grizzled coat.
- The fur or hair of any of these mammals.
- Any of several similar mammals, such as the ratel.
- To express a threat against or give indications of taking hostile action against:
- To be a source of danger to; endanger:
- To give signs or warning of; portend:
- To prevent or discourage from acting, as by means of fear or doubt:
- To prevent or discourage (an action or behavior):
- To make less likely or prevent from happening:
- To make timid; fill with fear:
- To coerce or deter, as with threats:
- To cause to lose spirit or enthusiasm; dishearten.
- To make ashamed or uneasy; disconcert.
- To cause to lose hope or enthusiasm; dispirit.
- To cause to make a quick involuntary movement or start.
- To alarm, frighten, or surprise suddenly.
- To become alarmed, frightened, or surprised.
- A violent collision, impact, or explosion, or the force or movement resulting from this:
- Something that suddenly causes emotional distress:
- A sudden feeling of distress:
- To fill or overpower with terror; terrify.
- To coerce or intimidate by causing fear.
- The mature female of cattle of the genus Bos.
- The mature female of certain other large animals, such as elephants, moose, or whales.
- A domesticated bovine of either sex or any age.
- To cause to lose enthusiasm or resolution; disillusion or discourage:
- To upset or distress:
- A sudden or complete loss of courage in the face of trouble or danger.
- To lessen the courage or resolution of; dishearten or intimidate:
- To fill with terror; make deeply afraid:
- To drive or force by arousing fear:
- Sudden fear or concern caused by the realization of danger or an impending setback.
- A warning of existing or approaching danger:
- A device that is used to warn of danger by means of a sound or signal:
- To strike with sudden fear; alarm.
- To become frightened:
- A condition or sensation of sudden fear:
To drive off, because of alarm
- To move, dig out, or demolish with a bulldozer:
- To coerce, intimidate, or bully:
- To do away with; terminate:
- To intimidate or subjugate by an overbearing manner or domineering speech; bully.
- To prevent or discourage from acting, as by means of fear or doubt:
- To prevent or discourage (an action or behavior):
- To make less likely or prevent from happening:
- A sudden frenzied rush of panic-stricken animals.
- A sudden headlong rush or flight of a crowd of people.
- A mass impulsive action:
- To ward off or keep away; drive back:
- To offer resistance to; fight against:
- To refuse to accept or submit to; reject:
- To deprive of confidence, hope, or spirit:
- To dissuade or deter (someone) from doing something:
- To try to prevent by expressing disapproval or raising objections:
- To make timid; fill with fear:
- To coerce or deter, as with threats:
- To cause (something) to flee by frightening it.
- To deter
Synonym Study
- Terrorize implies deliberate intention to terrify by threat or intimidation the gangsters terrorized the city
- To terrify is to cause to feel an overwhelming, often paralyzing fear terrified at the thought of war
- Alarm suggests a sudden fear or apprehension at the realization of an approaching danger alarmed by his warning
- Scare , often equivalent to frighten , often implies a fear that causes one to flee or to stop doing something I scared him from the room
- Frighten is the broadest of these terms and implies, usually, a sudden, temporary feeling of fear frightened by a mouse but sometimes, a state of continued dread she's frightened when she's alone
© WEBSTER’S NEW WORLD® ROGET’S A-Z THESAURUS by Charlton Laird and the editors of Webster’s New World dictionaries. Copyright © 1999 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.