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
Hanna Wickes, Charlotte Observer, 28 Apr. 2026
Witnesses describe the dogs as frightened and wary rather than dangerous — a pair of scared animals looking for food, not a fight.
—Ryan Brennan
april 21, Miami Herald, 21 Apr. 2026
Hannah Kirby, jsonline.com, 29 Mar. 2026
Facing cameras and a swath of media in her tiny hometown, Long Rife was not frightened by the prospect of moving cross-country.
—Joseph Dycus, Mercury News, 28 Mar. 2026
See All Example Sentences for frightened
Adjective
How Animal Lovers Can Help For readers who have ever bottle-fed a baby animal, comforted a frightened pet or simply paused to watch a deer step out of the woods at dusk, Forest’s story is a familiar kind of heartbreak — and a familiar kind of hope.
—Hanna Wickes, Charlotte Observer, 28 Apr. 2026
Witnesses describe the dogs as frightened and wary rather than dangerous — a pair of scared animals looking for food, not a fight.
—Ryan Brennan
april 21, Miami Herald, 21 Apr. 2026
Verb
Chesney had escaped from an outside enclosure on March 25, after being frightened by some unknown barking dogs.
—Hannah Kirby, jsonline.com, 29 Mar. 2026
Facing cameras and a swath of media in her tiny hometown, Long Rife was not frightened by the prospect of moving cross-country.
—Joseph Dycus, Mercury News, 28 Mar. 2026
See All Example Sentences for frightened
Recent Examples of Synonyms for frightened
Adjective
-
That said, Richie isn’t afraid to switch things up.—
Kaleigh Werner,
Footwear News,
19 May 2026
-
Zvyagintsev is not afraid of silence.—
Stephanie Bunbury,
Deadline,
19 May 2026
Verb
-
And then other people had been waiting a really long time and were scared of their rights being taken away or scared that their families wouldn't approve.—
Jack Irvin,
PEOPLE,
19 May 2026
-
Outside Idlib, most Syrians have never seen or met a Uyghur fighter before, and the conservative Sunni Muslim beliefs held by many Uyghurs in Syria have scared Syria's minority communities.—
Emily Feng,
NPR,
17 May 2026
Adjective
-
They are lost in the abyss of the deep ocean, unable to recognize themselves or their surroundings, overwhelmed and terrified.—
Literary Hub,
Literary Hub,
18 May 2026
-
But there were no loud gasps or terrified screams during the screening.—
Zac Ntim,
Deadline,
14 May 2026
Verb
-
Victor turned to her, startled.—
‘Pemi Aguda,
Literary Hub,
6 May 2026
-
The gunfire startled sleeping guests at the Citizen Hotel, which included a wedding party and fans of the rapper Tyler the Creator, who performed at a concert hours earlier.—
CBS News,
CBS News,
21 Apr. 2026
Adjective
-
As his tricks progressed, the Young Man felt horrified and confused at the same time.—
Literary Hub,
Literary Hub,
20 May 2026
-
Bowers told Vuong, who called the business and legal division while Bowers sent screeners to the horrified standards and practices department of the famously conservative broadcast network.—
Anna Peele,
Vulture,
20 May 2026
Verb
-
Many Democrats, spooked by the prospect of their party being frozen out in June’s top-two primary, have been clinging to their ballots, intending to vote at the last moment for whichever Democrat appears likeliest to finish first.—
Gustavo Arellano,
Los Angeles Times,
15 May 2026
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The thieves left after being spooked by the sound of a helicopter passing overhead, according to investigators.—
Andy Rose,
CNN Money,
14 May 2026
Adjective
-
Health experts are growing increasingly alarmed about the outbreak, arguing that cases have been spreading undetected as public health authorities are stretched thin.—
Lauren Weber,
Washington Post,
18 May 2026
-
Yohanan Plesner, the president of the Israel DemocracyInstitute, a nonpartisan think tank, is similarly alarmed.—
Bernard Avishai,
New Yorker,
18 May 2026
Verb
-
Beyoncé made her Met Gala return in a showstopping silver ensemble with husband Jay-Z and daughter Blue Ivy at her side, while Rihanna shut down the carpet with a fashionably late entrance, and music icons Madonna, Stevie Nicks and Cher shocked everyone with their presence on the carpet.—
Swasti Singhai,
USA Today,
20 May 2026
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In another part of the lab, cells were being shocked with electricity to open up their walls or were glowing eerily on petri dishes.—
Alex Morris,
Rolling Stone,
19 May 2026
Cite this Entry
“Frightened.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/frightened. Accessed 22 May. 2026.
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