as in terrifying
causing fear
a truly frightening movie
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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
as in scaring
to strike with fear
around the campfire the campers tried to frighten one another with ghostly legends and grisly tales
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Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of frightening
Matthew Korfhage, Wired News, 23 May 2025
Herta was able to get out of the car and walk away from the frightening accident.
—Ryan Gaydos, FOXNews.com, 17 May 2025
The frightening injury resulted in an ambulance being called onto the field.
—Jon Vankin, MSNBC Newsweek, 16 May 2025
Major cities like New York were already facing frightening death tolls that climbed higher each day—but that’s not what Eddington is about.
—Stephanie Zacharek, Time, 17 May 2025
See All Example Sentences for frightening
Adjective
There’s a lot of interest in plastic-free everything, in these days when new and frightening revelations about microplastics seem to come once a week.
—Matthew Korfhage, Wired News, 23 May 2025
Herta was able to get out of the car and walk away from the frightening accident.
—Ryan Gaydos, FOXNews.com, 17 May 2025
The frightening injury resulted in an ambulance being called onto the field.
—Jon Vankin, MSNBC Newsweek, 16 May 2025
Major cities like New York were already facing frightening death tolls that climbed higher each day—but that’s not what Eddington is about.
—Stephanie Zacharek, Time, 17 May 2025
See All Example Sentences for frightening
Recent Examples of Synonyms for frightening
Adjective
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May has been equally terrifying for Ukrainian civilians.—
Ivana Kottasová,
CNN Money,
27 May 2025
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As the mysterious contract killer Vincent, Cruise brings his usual on-screen qualities — strict professionalism, precise physicality, ruthless persistence — but turns them on their head to embody a terrifying, amoral murderer.—
Wesley Stenzel,
EW.com,
24 May 2025
Adjective
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But Game 3 of the Western Conference final was a scary reminder that McDavid has another side to his offensive arsenal.—
Daniel Nugent-Bowman,
New York Times,
26 May 2025
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Unlike Universal’s Halloween Horror Nights, this world is more foreboding than scary, but as guests quickly learn from its can’t-miss attraction Monsters Unchained: The Frankenstein Experiment, monsters still shouldn’t be crossed.—
Eve Chen,
USA Today,
26 May 2025
Adjective
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Everything points to the fact that Karolína’s exceptional talent has caught the attention of the formidable and much admired choirmaster.—
Leo Barraclough,
Variety,
3 June 2025
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Sinha’s strategic interventions have substantially scaled up businesses, powering a formidable sales pipeline by assisting the company in landing enterprise-level engagements.—
Daniel Fusch,
USA Today,
3 June 2025
Verb
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Jung-bae wound up in a room of three, with Player 001 and some rando — but Player 001 choked the stranger to death in time to reduce their head count, shocking Jung-bae more than a bit.—
Matt Webb Mitovich,
TVLine,
26 Dec. 2024
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Fox News Digital obtained shocking audio between Cyrus and his estranged wife where the country crooner is heard berating his Australian ex and using profane language.—
Ashley Hume,
Fox News,
26 Dec. 2024
Adjective
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There’s no doubt that Lewis, abandoned as a baby by his parents, has done some horrible stuff.—
Tony Maglio,
HollywoodReporter,
26 May 2025
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What happened to Simone as a child is horrible, and in her brain, she is therefore absolved of having anything to do with her father.—
Lauren Coates,
Variety,
24 May 2025
Adjective
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Kids these days have attention spans crushed under the terrible weight of TikTok and Instgram.—
Erik Kain,
Forbes.com,
3 June 2025
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Heavy truck traffic has also contributed to terrible pollution in California’s Central Valley.—
Francine Kiefer,
Christian Science Monitor,
2 June 2025
Adjective
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Perhaps better than any other source of encouragement, parents can make counseling appear less intimidating and more important.—
Eric Wood,
Forbes.com,
27 May 2025
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The Cosmos, like its namesake, is nothing if not enormous and intimidating.—
PC Magazine,
PC Magazine,
25 May 2025
Cite this Entry
“Frightening.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/frightening. Accessed 6 Jun. 2025.
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