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Glite Dictionary
👻 To frighten 😱 A sudden fear
to scare

to scare

∞ 1.0
To make someone feel afraid or unsure of themselves
  • verb
  • /skɛr/
translation icon : asustar
  • The loud noise from the fireworks will scare the dog.
  • scare people
  • scare away
  • don't let that scare you

The facts are there and they're scaring people more and more.

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Examples

Synonyms

to frighten
vsto scare
540 1.0

To make someone feel afraid

also covers losing confidence as well as feeling afraid
to intimidate
vsto scare
294 4.9

To frighten someone so they do what you want

can cause fear or confidence loss without aiming to control behaviour
to terrify
vsto scare
148 3.2

To make someone feel very frightened

expresses fear or loss of confidence but generally with less intensity
to terrorize
vsto scare
  • NSFW
145 6.7

To frighten someone very much by using threats or violence

can involve causing fear without threats or violence
to scare someone to death
vsto scare
  • Informal
59 3.7

To frighten someone very much

covers fear or confidence loss more generally, not only extreme cases
to scare the hell out of
vsto scare
  • Informal
56 6.7

To make someone very afraid

is the general term for causing fear or confidence loss in neutral tone
to unnerve
vsto scare
20 6.3

To make someone feel nervous and less confident

can mean causing fear more directly rather than only unease or nerves
to daunt
vsto scare
7 7.2

To make someone feel afraid or less confident

also includes sudden fear reactions, not only gradual discouragement
to scare the bejesus out of
vsto scare
  • Informal
5 8.8

To make someone very afraid

can mean causing fear more slowly or less suddenly
to scare the pants off
vsto scare
  • Informal
3 8.2

To frighten someone very much

is the neutral expression for causing fear or reducing confidence
to put the fear of God into
vsto scare
  • Informal
3 8.2

Make people very afraid and make them respect you by showing power

can cause fear or loss of confidence without relying on authority
to scare the living daylights out of
vsto scare
  • Informal
3 6.9

To frighten someone very much

is used for normal fear that may be less extreme
to scare the life out of
vsto scare
  • Informal
3 5.6

To make someone very afraid

is used for fear or confidence loss without the heavy shock element
to fright
vsto scare
2 3.2

To make someone feel afraid

is broader, including loss of confidence not only sudden alarm
to affright
vsto scare
  • Archaic
9.9

To cause sudden fear in someone

is the modern, neutral way to cause fear or lose confidence
to do someone a frighten
vsto scare
  • Irish
9.9

To suddenly scare someone and make them jump

covers causing fear or lasting confidence loss beyond a brief startle

Antonyms

to comfort
172 1.0

To make someone feel less upset or in pain

to reassure
163 3.4

To make someone feel less worried and more confident

Idioms

to scare someone to death
  • Informal
59 3.7

To frighten someone very much

to scare the bejesus out of
  • Informal
5 8.8

To make someone very afraid

to scare the bejesus
  • Informal
5 9.0

To frighten someone very much by a sudden event or loud noise

to scare the pants off
  • Informal
3 8.2

To frighten someone very much

to scare the living daylights out of
  • Informal
3 6.9

To frighten someone very much

to scare the hoes
  • Offensive
9.9

To frighten people at a party and spoil the mood

Phrasal Verbs

to scare off
68 2.7

To make people or animals go away by frightening them

to scare the hell out of
  • Informal
56 6.7

To make someone very afraid

to scare away
47 2.5

Make a person or animal go away because they are afraid

to scare up
  • Informal
7 6.1

To find or get something often with effort

to scare the life out of
  • Informal
3 5.6

To make someone very afraid

to scare quote
  • Literature
8.2

To put quotation marks around a word to show doubt or irony

Compounds

jump scare
1 4.8

A sudden loud sound or image in films and games that makes you jump

scare quote
  • Literature
1 7.7

Quotation marks put around a word to show doubt or irony

red scare
  • US
1 7.5

A time when many people in the United States are afraid of communism

How Frightening

to terrify
148 3.2
to scare
∞ 1.0
to frighten
540 1.0
to startle
131 3.7
to unsettle
7 4.9

Surface Forms

scare infinitive
scared past
scared past participle
scaring present participle
scares third person singular

Etymology

The verb scare probably comes from an old Norse word like skirra meaning 'to frighten', so to scare someone is to make them feel fear or lose confidence.