as in afraid
filled with fear or dread
I am frightened of the dark
Synonyms & Similar Words
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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
as in scared
to strike with fear
around the campfire the campers tried to frighten one another with ghostly legends and grisly tales
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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of frightened
Sergio Martínez-Beltrán, NPR, 17 Oct. 2025
Business owners in Little Village, which is 81% Hispanic, said customers are too frightened to walk the streets of Chicago’s second busiest commercial corridor.
—Nathaniel Meyersohn, CNN Money, 16 Oct. 2025
Lynette Rice, Deadline, 28 Oct. 2025
Homelessness While Americans are frightened by many things and events, most are not fearful of tent camps or homeless people.
—Kurt Snibbe, Oc Register, 24 Oct. 2025
See All Example Sentences for frightened
Adjective
For communities who are targeted and already frightened, taking the time to differentiate between the National Guard and a federal law enforcement agency is secondary to staying safe.
—Verb
Don’t be frightened, though, fans; The Parent Trap gal is still in the competition!
—Recent Examples of Synonyms for frightened
Adjective
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The opposition ranged from clinical and code-based to angry and afraid.—
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From animal prints to floral patterns and everything in between, don’t be afraid to let loose and have fun with patterns in your space.—
Verb
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What really scared me was telling my audience.—
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That caption scared me for a minute.—
Adjective
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Understandably terrified, Scott-Miller closed the store to protect her and her family’s safety and peace of mind.—
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When workers are terrified, turnover rises, productivity falls and long-term investment stalls.—
Verb
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Authorities in southern Colorado are investigating after a sudden explosion damaged a building and startled nearby residents.—
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Leibfried was responding to a report of a domestic disturbance in the building and was startled by a loud bang that emanated from the closed door of an apartment.—
Adjective
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Yang plays Kieran Culkin’s stand-in, his arms nightmarishly chainsawed off as Ashley Padilla’s Catherine O’Hara equivalent lets out a series of horrified shrieks.—
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Then her old, extremely offensive X posts resurfaced—and the buzz turned to horrified backlash.—
Verb
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The suspect got spooked by the resident and fled.—
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The wildlife never showed because the talking spooked everything.—
Adjective
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Experts are especially alarmed that the CDC is investigating splitting up the MMR vaccine, which protects kids against measles, mumps and rubella in one shot.—
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Phil, Myrtle’s son, who lived out of state, became alarmed when a concerned neighbor later notified him that his mother had vanished.—
Verb
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You’d be shocked to see how little (or how much) some of the more popular backpacks are capable of handling.—
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Local senior living residents also told WESH that they were shocked to learn about the case, as the community had felt safe in the past.—
Cite this Entry
“Frightened.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/frightened. Accessed 12 Jan. 2026.
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