Afraid, scared, frightened and terrified

These words have very similar meanings and are often used interchangeably.

• The frightful howls scared us. / The frightful howls terrified us.

Afraid is the most general of these terms. It is used to express a vague or general fear. You can be afraid of something trivial. You can also be afraid of really dangerous things.

• She is afraid of the dark.
• I am afraid of thunder and lightning.
• He is afraid for his life.

The expressions scared, terrified and frightened all imply fear. Scared is mainly used in an informal style. It suggests a mild fear that passes quickly.

• The noise scared me.
• Oh, you scared me. I didn’t know you were there.
• He jumped out of the closet and scared me.

Frightened is more formal than scared. It shows a greater degree of fear.

• She was too frightened to cry.
• I was too frightened to move.

Terrified suggests extreme fear.

• The young soldier was terrified by the battle.
• The thunderstorm terrified us.
• The thunder and lightning scared the children.
• That ghost story scared me.
• The scarecrows are for scaring away the birds.
• You frightened the daylights out of me.