1
general::
frightening
making you feel frightened:
• Being held at gunpoint had been the most frightening moment of his life. • The experience was very frightening.
scary
especially spoken frightening. Scary is less formal than frightening and is very common in everyday English:
• The movie was really scary. • There were some scary moments.
chilling
frightening, especially because violence, cruelty, or danger is involved:
• a chilling tale of revenge, murder and madness • The court heard chilling details about the attack.
spooky
frightening and strange, especially because something involves ghosts or powers that people do not understand:
• The forest is really spooky in the dark. • a spooky coincidence • spooky stories
creepy
informal frightening in a way that makes you feel nervous, especially when you are not sure exactly why – used especially about places, people, and feelings:
• This place is really creepy. Let’s get out of here. • a creepy guy • Do you know that creepy feeling when you're sure someone’s there but you can’t see or hear anything?
eerie
especially literary strange and frightening:
• There was an eerie silence immediately after the bomb went off. • an eerie light • an eerie feeling
intimidating
making you feel frightened, nervous, or lacking in confidence:
• Big schools can be an intimidating place for young children. • Giving evidence in court is often a rather intimidating experience. • the intimidating presence of a large number of soldiers
menacing
frightening because you think someone is going to hurt you, even though they have not said or done anything violent – used especially about someone’s expression or voice:
• The woman had a very menacing look. • ‘I’d like to have a word with you outside,’ he said in a menacing tone.
very frightening
terrifying
extremely frightening:
• a terrifying thought • The experience was absolutely terrifying. • She spoke of the terrifying ordeal (= a very bad experience ) when three armed men burst into her house.
hair-raising
very frightening and involving danger, in a way that is exciting:
• hair-raising stories • a hair-raising motorcycle ride through the streets of Havana
spine-chilling
very frightening – used about films, stories etc that involve frightening or cruel events:
• a spine-chilling novel by Stephen King
blood-curdling
especially literary [ only before noun ] very frightening – used especially about sounds:
• a blood-curdling scream • a blood-curdling growl
Longman-Thesaurus
2
general::
adj. VERBS be, feel, look, seem, sound | become, get The situation was getting quite frightening. | make sth What can we do to make the experience less frightening? | find sth He found the responsibility rather frightening. ADV. extremely, genuinely, positively, really, truly, very | almost | a bit, fairly, a little, pretty, quite, rather PREP. for This is extremely frightening for elderly people. | to It was all very frightening to a small boy.
Oxford Collocations Dictionary