Affrighten

Pronunciation: /əˈfraɪtən/

Definitions of affrighten

verb to cause fear or terror in; frighten

Example Sentences

A1 The loud noise affrightened the little girl.

A2 The sudden appearance of the ghost affrightened the group of friends.

B1 The horror movie affrightened me so much that I couldn't sleep.

B2 The unexpected news affrightened the entire community.

C1 The prospect of war affrightened the nation's leaders into action.

C2 The looming threat of a global pandemic affrightened the world's population.

Examples of affrighten in a Sentence

formal The loud noise of thunder affrightened the young child.

informal I didn't mean to affrighten you with my sudden appearance.

slang The horror movie affrightened me so much that I couldn't sleep.

figurative The thought of failing affrightens me more than anything else.

Grammatical Forms of affrighten

• past tense: affrightened
• plural: affrighten
• comparative: more affrightening
• superlative: most affrightening
• present tense: affrightens
• future tense: will affrighten
• perfect tense: have affrightened
• continuous tense: is affrightening
• singular: affrighten
• positive degree: affrighten
• infinitive: to affrighten
• gerund: affrightening
• participle: affrightened

Origin and Evolution of affrighten

First Known Use: 1250 year

Language of Origin: Old English

Story behind the word: The word 'affrighten' originated from Middle English, derived from the Old English word 'afyrhtan' which means to terrify or frighten.

Evolution of the word: Over time, 'affrighten' has evolved to be less commonly used in modern English, with 'frighten' or 'scare' being more frequently used to convey a similar meaning.