Meaning & use
frightening
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Meanings
adjectivecomparable
Making you feel afraid or very worried.
Grammar: Describes the thing that causes fear: a frightening noise. Compare frightened, which describes the person.
Patterns
- frightening to someone
- it is frightening to do something
The thunder was frightening for the small dog.
It is frightening to walk home alone on a dark road.
She had a frightening experience in the elevator.
adjectivecomparable
Shocking or worrying because it is extreme or may lead to bad results.
Grammar: Used for facts or speed that cause concern: a frightening rate.
Patterns
- frightening how/that
It is frightening how quickly prices have risen.
The report shows a frightening increase in waste.
He drove at a frightening speed.
Word forms
| comparative | more frightening |
|---|---|
| superlative | most frightening |
Common combinations
- a frightening experience
- Getting lost in the woods was a frightening experience.
- frightening prospect
- Speaking to a hundred people is a frightening prospect.
- frightening speed
- The fire spread at a frightening speed.
- find something frightening
- Many children find the dark frightening.
- frightening thought
- It's a frightening thought that we almost missed it.
- deeply frightening
- The sudden silence was deeply frightening.
Synonyms and how they differ
- scary
- Scary is the casual everyday word, often used for films and small fears, while frightening is slightly more neutral.
- terrifying
- Terrifying is much stronger and describes extreme fear.
- alarming
- Alarming points to a worrying sign that calls for action, not necessarily danger to you.
- daunting
- Daunting describes a task that seems too large or hard rather than something that threatens you.
Opposites
Word family
- frighten verb
- to make someone afraid
- fright noun
- a sudden feeling of fear
- frightened adjective
- feeling afraid
- frighteningly adverb
- in a way that causes fear
Commonly confused: frightening or frightened?
frightening vs frightened
Frightened describes how a person feels, while frightening describes what causes the feeling.
Practice
The storm was so ____ that the children hid under the blanket.
Choose one answer.
The storm causes fear, so we use frightening. Frightened would describe the children's feeling and cannot describe the storm.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “frightening”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.