as in terrifying
causing fear
a truly frightening movie
Synonyms & Similar Words
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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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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of frightening
Kate Erbland, IndieWire, 4 July 2025
Reservoir Dogs and Kill Bill star Michael Madsen, who died Thursday, once said that some of his characters were too frightening for their own good.
—Tim Lammers, Forbes.com, 3 July 2025
That’s frightening, but more frightening still were the responses from Winter Garden locals who seemingly prize their own comfort over their fellow citizens’ constitutional rights.
—Daniel McGowan, The Orlando Sentinel, 3 July 2025
The fumes are certainly easier to ignore or deny than the visceral, immediate violence of serial murder—which is much rarer, and yet, for many, much more frightening.
—Sarah Weinman, The Atlantic, 18 June 2025
See All Example Sentences for frightening
Adjective
Not the terrifying or the scary or frightening, the horrifying.
—Kate Erbland, IndieWire, 4 July 2025
Reservoir Dogs and Kill Bill star Michael Madsen, who died Thursday, once said that some of his characters were too frightening for their own good.
—Tim Lammers, Forbes.com, 3 July 2025
That’s frightening, but more frightening still were the responses from Winter Garden locals who seemingly prize their own comfort over their fellow citizens’ constitutional rights.
—Daniel McGowan, The Orlando Sentinel, 3 July 2025
The fumes are certainly easier to ignore or deny than the visceral, immediate violence of serial murder—which is much rarer, and yet, for many, much more frightening.
—Sarah Weinman, The Atlantic, 18 June 2025
See All Example Sentences for frightening
Recent Examples of Synonyms for frightening
Adjective
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For Bertram, whose family winery has roots deep in the terraced vineyards of the valley, the night was a blur of frantic decisions and terrifying uncertainty.—
Christopher Elliott,
Forbes.com,
13 July 2025
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But this is still grand blockbuster filmmaking: The scene where bombs explode across Gotham is as memorable and terrifying as anything in the series.—
Tim Grierson,
Vulture,
11 July 2025
Adjective
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The filmmakers used the sounds of babies crying to make a scary noise In the film, the bad people go to a bad afterlife, and they’re taken there by creepy, inky shadow things.—
Drew Mackie,
People.com,
13 July 2025
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Some of it was pretty scary, but Lu was very supportive and helpful, and so was his producer, Matt.—
Max Gao,
HollywoodReporter,
12 July 2025
Adjective
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In short, because the Ukrainians have put up a formidable defense.—
Nick Vivarelli,
Variety,
9 July 2025
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Williams, 62, previously headed Apple's formidable operations division, which is in charge of manufacturing millions of complicated devices like iPhones, while keeping costs down.—
Kif Leswing,
CNBC,
8 July 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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The market is just full of butcher shops, with the most ghastly whole pigs and halves of steers hanging from horrible hooks.—
John Updike,
New Yorker,
11 July 2025
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For many who were directly affected by the flood, these post-flood days have been like waking up from a horrible nightmare.—
Bea L. Hines,
Miami Herald,
11 July 2025
Adjective
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Vegas bounced back from a terrible loss to the Fever with an 86-68 win over the Sun on Sunday.—
Kilty Cleary,
MSNBC Newsweek,
8 July 2025
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And because of that, it’s shielded us from the terrible things that happen downstream in the supply chain.—
Alexandra Harrell,
Sourcing Journal,
8 July 2025
Adjective
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While the ingredients were simmering, Innis shared that the key to making dinner less overwhelming and intimidating for working people is having your ingredients and materials prepared ahead of time.—
Dominique Fluker,
Essence,
6 July 2025
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By limiting the commitment to just five minutes, the task feels more manageable and less intimidating.—
Dr. Faye Begeti,
CNBC,
23 June 2025
Cite this Entry
“Frightening.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/frightening. Accessed 19 Jul. 2025.
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