frighten

frighten

English

Alternative forms

• freighten (obsolete)

Etymology

From Middle English fryghten, equivalent to fright +‎ -en.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈfɹaɪtn̩/, /ˈfɹaɪʔn̩/

• Audio (US)

  (file)

• Rhymes: -aɪtən
• Hyphenation: frigh‧ten

Verb

frighten (third-person singular simple present frightens, present participle frightening, simple past and past participle frightened)

1. (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.

Synonyms

• See also Thesaurus:frighten

Derived terms

• do someone a frighten
• frightening
• frighten the horses
• frighten the life out of someone
• frighten the piss out of

 

Related terms

• fright

Translations

to disturb with fear

Arabic: خَشَّى‎ (ḵaššā), أَفْزَعَ‎ (ʾafzaʿa) Moroccan Arabic: خلع‎ (ḵleʿ) Armenian: վախեցնել (hy) (vaxecʿnel) 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) 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) Latin: terreō Latvian: baidīt, biedēt, 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) Westrobothnian: räädd Zazaki: tersanen

Anagrams

• fringeth

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Middle English

Alternative forms

• friȝten, fyrten

Etymology

From Old English fyrhtan; equivalent to fright +‎ -en (infinitival suffix).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈfrixtən/, [ˈfriçtən]

Verb

frighten

1. To frighten, scare

Conjugation

Conjugation of frighten (weak in -ed)

infinitive	(to) frighten, frighte
	present tense	past tense
1st-person singular	frighte	frighted
2nd-person singular	frightest	frightedest
3rd-person singular	frighteth	frighted
subjunctive singular	frighte
imperative singular		—
plural1	frighten, frighte	frighteden, frightede
imperative plural	frighteth, frighte	—
participles	frightynge, frightende	frighted, yfrighted

¹Sometimes used as a formal 2nd-person singular.

Descendants

• English: (to) fright (archaic)

References

• “frighten, v.”, in MED Online, Ann Arbor, Mich.: University of Michigan, 2007, retrieved 2018-04-05.