frighten sb/sth away/off
— phrasal verb with frighten uk/ˈfraɪ.tən/us/ˈfraɪ.tən/verb [ T ]
to make a person or animal feel fear in order to make them go away:
Be quiet or you'll frighten the deer off.
to make someone so nervous that they decide not to do something:
Many potential buyers were frightened off by the £1 million price tag.
Thesaurus: synonyms and related words
Frightening and scaring
- chill
- chill sb to the bone/marrow idiom
- cow
- creep
- curdle
- daylight
- flesh
- frighten
- overawe
- petrify
- put the fear of God into you idiom
- put/get the wind up sb idiom
- scare
- scare, frighten, etc. the (living) daylights out of sb idiom
- send chills down/up sb's spine idiom
- send shivers down/up sb's spine idiom
- send shudders/a shudder down your spine idiom
- shiver (up and) down your spine idiom
- shudder
- wit
See more results »
You can also find related words, phrases, and synonyms in the topics:
Causing anxiety and worry