frightening
adj/ˈfɹaɪtənɪŋ/ · /ˈfɹaɪtnɪŋ/
Etymology From frighten + -ing.
1
Causing fear; or capable of causing fear; scary.
- Riding the rollercoaster was a frightening experience.
- The Owl is flying high, frightening to the eye. The Rattler is nearby, Cool is on the fly. Danger is his business.1966, “Cool McCool (theme song)”, Bernie Green (music) (Cool McCool (television series)), performed by Bob McFadden:
2
Figuratively Awful, terrible, very bad.
- Synonyms
37 terms
affreux, alarming, spine-tingling, appalling, awful, eldritch, buggish, butt-clenching, buttock-clenching, dismayful, dreadful, fearful, flaysome, flesh-crawling, formidable, freaky, frightening, frightensome, frightful, ghastly, ghostly, grisly, hair-curling, hair-raising, horrible, horrid, horrific, horrifying, horripilating, pulse-pounding, scaring, scary, shocking, skin-crawling, terrible, terrifying, terrorsome- Antonyms
- nonfrightening, unfrightening
- Derived terms
- frighteningly, nonfrightening, unfrightening
- Related terms
- frighten, fear, disheartening, afraid
- Hypernyms
- moving, unpleasant
- Hyponyms
- creeptacular, spooktacular