Word Pronunciation & Dictionary

frighten

/ˈfɹaɪ.tən/

Word Rarity Rare

Frequency: Zipf frequency 3.08 in modern English

Syllables: frigh-ten
IPA: /ˈfɹaɪ.tən/

15

Scrabble Score

8

Letters

2

Syllables

8

Unique Chars

Meaning

verb

To cause to feel fear; to scare; to cause to feel alarm or fright.

Transitive verb

verb

To become scared or alarmed.

Intransitive verb

Example Sentences

"Avery puts a sheet over her head, pretending to be a ghost to frighten Emily."
"His Deſign was only to frighten France, and get more Money."
"You may frighten a pig, a goose, a frog, and even a fly, but you cannot frighten or surprise a sloth."
"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."
"In fitting the White Leghorns for exhibition, it must be remembered that they are of nervous disposition and frighten easily."
"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."

Etymology

From Middle English *frightenen, equivalent to fright + -en.

Origin

Source language: Middle English

Word Breakdown

Root: *frightenen

Usage

Inflected Forms

frightens (present, singular) frightening (participle, present) frightened (participle, past) frightened (past) freighten (alternative, obsolete)

Derived Forms

frightenable frightener frightening frightensome overfrighten refrighten unfrighten

Phrases

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

Frequently Paired Words

fright afraid coward disheartening fear nervous asustar annoy

Synonyms

alarm affright appall dismay fray frighten grill give someone the shits harrow horrify make someone's blood run cold mortify

Rhymes With

brighton titan tighten lighten brighten enlighten triton heighten whiten knighton guyton reitan

Questions

How do you pronounce frighten?: The recorded pronunciation is /ˈfɹaɪ.tən/.
What does frighten mean?: To cause to feel fear; to scare; to cause to feel alarm or fright.
Where does frighten come from?: It is traced to Middle English.

How to pronounce frighten

Open the pronunciation page — Open the Speakur entry for “frighten”.
Read the phonetic spelling — Read the IPA spelling (/ˈfɹaɪ.tən/) so you know which sounds to aim for.
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