Frighten

Part of speech: verb

Pronunciation: /ˈfɹaɪ.tən/

Definitions

1. To induce a feeling of fear or anxiety in someone, creating a disturbance in their sense of comfort or security
2. To make an individual experience a sudden sense of fear or apprehension, disrupting their feelings of safety
3. To cause someone to feel fear or become startled by a sudden threat or danger

Etymology: Fright itself is the older word: it came into Old English as "fyrhto," a noun meaning fear, which over the centuries softened into the sound we now hear. "Frighten" is much later and simpler in construction, built in Middle English from "fright" plus the verb-making ending "-en," the same ending found in words like "widen" and "soften." The formula is transparent, so the verb essentially means "to make someone experience fright." The noun "fright" lost a sense of sudden alarm that the verb kept, which explains why "frighten" tends to suggest a startle as well as lasting dread. The pattern of turning a noun into a verb by adding "-en" was productive in Middle English, and "frighten" is one of its more familiar survivors.

Synonyms: scare, terrify, alarm

Antonyms: calm, reassure, soothe