Definition

1. Verb (transitive):
   • To cause someone or something to flee, leave, or be deterred by inducing fear or alarm. It means to scare off.

Usage

• The verb "frighten away" is used to describe the action of making a person, animal, or even an abstract concept like an idea or opportunity go away because of fear. It is a separable phrasal verb (e.g., "frighten someone away").
• It often implies that the fear causes the target to retreat or abandon its position or intention.

Examples

• Verb:
  • The loud noise will frighten away the birds. (The noise will cause the birds to fly away because they are scared.)
  • High prices are frightening away potential customers. (High prices are deterring potential customers, making them not want to buy.)
  • She didn't want her stern expression to frighten away the new interns. (She didn't want her serious look to scare the new interns into avoiding her.)

Advanced Usage

• "to be frightened away": The passive form, indicating the subject is the one caused to leave by fear.
  • The investors were frightened away by the market's instability.
• The object (the thing being scared off) can be placed between "frighten" and "away" or after the entire phrase.
  • The guard dog frightened the intruder away. (Correct)
  • The guard dog frightened away the intruder. (Also correct)

Variants and Related Words

• Frighten off: A synonym with identical meaning and usage (to scare off).
  • They used lights to frighten off the foxes.
• Scare away: A more informal synonym.
  • Don't scare away the wildlife.

Synonyms

• Deter: To discourage or prevent from acting through fear or doubt.
• Scare off: To cause to flee or be discouraged by fear.
• Drive away: To force to leave.

Related Phrasal Verbs

• Frighten into: To use fear to make someone do something.
  • He was frightened into confessing.
• Frighten out of: To use fear to make someone stop doing something.
  • The accident frightened him out of riding motorcycles.

Related Idioms

• To scare the daylights out of someone: To frighten someone very much (an intense version of frightening someone away).
  • That horror movie scared the daylights out of me.

Verb

1. cause to lose courage
   • dashed by the refusal