# frighten

Pronunciation: say "FRY-tuhn" /ˈfɹaɪ.tən/

## Verb

1. To make a person or animal feel fear, alarm, or fright.
   - Simple: To make a person or animal feel afraid or scared.
   - _The sudden gunshot frightened the horses into bolting across the field._
   - _I didn't mean to frighten you with such grim news._
2. To come to feel fear or alarm.
   - Simple: To start to feel afraid or scared.
   - _Wild deer frighten at the slightest movement in the brush._
   - _She frightened easily as a child, jumping at every shadow._

## Origin

From Middle English *frightenen, formed from "fright" plus the suffix "-en".

Source: DictionaryAI, https://dictionaryai.com/define/frighten (written from Wiktionary data, CC BY-SA 4.0: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/).