frighten

First used by Ottoman military "mehter" bands to frighten and demoralise the enemy, cymbals were a useful tool for an empire on the warpath.

From Barron's ● Aug. 6, 2026

I was aware that I didn’t want to frighten my kids with it.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 8, 2026

He’s a student of life as much as he is filmmaking, a humanist who forges connections with spectacular sights of the things that frighten and fascinate us the most.

From Salon ● Jun. 28, 2026

"Until yesterday, I never thought there would be something that would frighten me of going back to Liverpool after the break. Team-mates come and go but not like this," Salah posted last summer.

From BBC ● May 23, 2026

“You cannot frighten me,” said the man in black, but there was fear all through his voice.

From "The Princess Bride" by William Goldman

I’m not here to persuade you to fly if it frightens you that much.

From MarketWatch ● Apr. 9, 2026

Desai: It looked at year end like Kevin Hassett’s star was on the rise, but none of the names discussed frightens me.

From Barron's ● Jan. 9, 2026

A sniff of a rotting old chair frightens Indy so much, he wets the rug.

From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 1, 2025

"He frightens opponents and they can't relax against him. With confidence has come calmness when it comes to finishing. He's not a traditional target man but he's a goalscorer."

From BBC ● Mar. 9, 2025

He realizes something that frightens him: Inspector Becker seems to have already found Franz Seemann guilty.

From "The Boy Who Dared" by Susan Campbell Bartoletti

In Lancaster County “Parker became almost mythical,” Ms. Aptowicz writes, “a man who couldn’t be threatened, frightened, or killed.”

From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 2, 2026

"I became frightened of it and how it controlled me, " McCoubrey said.

From BBC ● Aug. 23, 2026

Both Oscar-nominated, Davis and Sarandon play beautifully off each other, funny and loose in one moment, frightened or furious the next.

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 20, 2026

A major incident was declared near Llandovery, Carmarthenshire, after dozens of homes were evacuated and roads closed, while residents near a blaze in south Wales said they were "frightened".

From BBC ● Aug. 15, 2026

Jeremy felt both relieved and frightened when his fingers finally closed on a quarter.

From "Jeremy Thatcher, Dragon Hatcher" by Bruce Coville

I walk down the street and I see an alarming number of people wearing weighted walking vests now, which is so frightening that it requires me to catch my breath every now and again.

From Slate ● Sep. 6, 2026

That is more frightening than stupidity, which can at least be kept out of the meeting.

From MarketWatch ● Aug. 31, 2026

Otherwise the label can be selected or rejected for almost any destructive, unusual or frightening occurrence.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 30, 2026

It’s a frightening thing to take a step toward the future, going so far that you can no longer see where your journey began, yet unable to identify where it might end.

From Salon ● Aug. 28, 2026

One whirligig was meant to be a thunderstorm and it was so like one, black and gray, beautiful and frightening.

From "Missing May" by Cynthia Rylant