🇫🇷French Source WordCode: FR

effrayer

Pronunciation / Transliteration: ef-reh-yay

🇬🇧 Direct English Meaning:
Scare/skɛər/
verbnounCEFR B1 (Intermediate)Top #1500 frequency
Full Thesaurus
🇫🇷 Example Sentence in French:

"Le bruit fort a effrayé les enfants."

Comprehensive Definitions & Senses

2 senses
As verb
  1. 1

    To cause someone to feel frightened or alarmed.

    "The loud noise scared the children."
As noun
  1. 1

    A feeling of fear or anxiety.

    "She had a scare when she thought she lost her wallet."

Thesaurus & Semantic Spectrum

Antonyms & Contrasting Words (1)

Linguistic Origin & Historical Etymology

The word 'scare' originates from the Old Norse word 'skera', meaning to cut or to separate, which evolved in Middle English to refer to a sudden fright or alarm. Over time, its meaning shifted to encompass both the act of frightening and the feeling of fear itself.

Quick Vocabulary Retention Check

Which of the following is the closest synonym for "Scare"?

Thesaurus & Synonyms Graph

Explore Nuanced Synonyms for "Scare"

Discover exact matches, context-specific alternatives, and antonyms with intensity ratings in the VocabDictionary Thesaurus.

View "Scare" Synonym Map