Word family noun fright frighteners adjective frightened frightening frightful verb frighten adverb frighteningly frightfully
From Longman Dictionary of Contemporary Englishfrightenedfright‧ened /ˈfraɪtnd/ ●●● S3 adjective FRIGHTENEDfeeling afraid SYN scared Don’t be frightened. We’re not going to hurt you.frightened of I was frightened of being left by myself in the house. Her father had an awful temper and she was always frightened of him.frightened to do something The boy was frightened to speak.frightened that She’s frightened that her ex-husband will find her. To tell the truth, I was frightened to death (=very frightened). a frightened horse ► Do not confuse frightened, which describes a feeling, and frightening, which describes something that makes you feel frightened: a frightened child | a frightening experienceTHESAURUSfrightened feeling worried because you might get hurt or because something bad might happenI was too frightened to say anything.Many animals are frightened of fireworks.Frightened residents called the police as the gang started throwing bricks.scared [not before noun] especially spoken frightened. Scared is less formal than frightened and is the usual word to use in everyday EnglishI’m scared of dogs.Old people are too scared to go out of their homes.afraid [not before noun] frightened. Afraid sounds more formal than frightened or scaredChildren are often afraid of the dark.I was afraid that I might say the wrong thing.alarmed frightened and worried that something bad might happenShe was alarmed at the thought of performing in front of an audience.Alarmed passengers spotted fuel leaking from the plane.fearful formal frightened that something bad might happenThey are fearful of another terrorist attack.He was fearful that he might make another mistake.a fearful panicvery frightenedterrified very frightenedHe looked terrified as the plane took off.James was absolutely terrified of losing his only child.He dragged the terrified woman into his car.petrified very frightened – used especially when you are so frightened that you cannot think or moveShe’s absolutely petrified of spiders.scared stiff/scared to death informal very frightenedI had to make a speech, and I was scared stiff.She was scared to death of her father.in terror written if you do something in terror, you do it because you are very frightenedPeople fled in terror as the building went up in flames. Examples from the Corpus
frightened• She stepped off the pavement, and a car with squealing brakes drove her back again, frightened and flustered.• She was frightened, and she sank to the ground.• a frightened animal• Two frightened children were hiding in a corner of the room.• She stared up into the big frightened eyes.• I was frightened in case anyone came in.• Don't be frightened, it's only thunder.• I was frightened my parents would get divorced, and wished that there was something I could do to make them happy again.• A lot of people are frightened of dentists.• He was frightened of making mistakes.• Are you frightened of the dark?• Alice kept perfectly still, frightened that the dog might attack her.• I was frightened to move in case the branch broke.frightened of• He was very frightened of being alone. 