🇩🇪German Source WordCode: DE

erschrecken

Pronunciation / Transliteration: ɛʁˈʃʁɛkən

🇬🇧 Direct English Meaning:
Frighten/ˈfraɪtən/
verbCEFR B1 (Intermediate)Top #1500 frequency
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🇩🇪 Example Sentence in German:

"Das plötzliche Geräusch hat die Kinder erschreckt."

Comprehensive Definitions & Senses

2 senses
As verb
  1. 1

    To cause someone to feel fear or anxiety.

    "The sudden noise frightened the children."
  2. 2

    To make someone afraid or scared.

    "The horror movie frightened her so much that she couldn't sleep."

Thesaurus & Semantic Spectrum

Synonyms (3)
Antonyms & Contrasting Words (1)

Linguistic Origin & Historical Etymology

The word 'frighten' originates from the Old English 'fyrhtan', meaning to cause fear. It evolved through Middle English as 'frighten', reflecting a shift in usage from a state of fear to the act of causing fear.

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