verb/adjective · informal
frighten
/ˈfraɪ.tən/FRIGHT·en
Band 6-7speakingtask2
to make someone feel afraid
Examples
“The sudden noise frightened the children.”
“The idea of moving to a new city frightened her at first.”
“The film was frightening, so I left after twenty minutes.”
Band 8 sentence
“Statistics about climate disasters can frighten some readers, but careful presentation helps motivate constructive debate rather than panic.”
Collocations
- frighten someone into (doing)
- be frightened of/by
- frightening experience
Word family
frighten verb (base)frightens verb (3rd sing.)frightened adj / verb (past/p.p.)frightening adj / verb (gerund)fright noun
Common mistakes
The noise frightened me very muchly.→The noise frightened me very much.
She is frightening after watching the movie.→She is frightened after watching the movie.
Say it for a higher band
5scare→6alarm→7+frighten
Synonyms
scare
terrify
Easily confused
scare
“The sudden noise scared him.”
terrify
“The movie's climax terrified the audience.”
Related words
Learn this word with the rest of its set, and get reminded at the right time.
In -en
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