Frightful and Scary

Frightful

Frightful adjective - Causing fear.
Usage example: a frightful sound emanated from somewhere deep within the forest

Scary is a synonym for frightful in fear topic. In some cases you can use "Scary" instead an adjective "Frightful", when it comes to topics like terrible, horrid, awful.

Nearby Words: frightening, frightened, fright, frightfully, frighted

Scary

Scary adjective - Causing fear.
Usage example: a scary movie that gave the child nightmares for weeks afterwards

Frightful is a synonym for scary in fear topic. You can use "Frightful" instead an adjective "Scary", if it concerns topics such as terrible, horrid, awful.

Nearby Words: scare, scar, scared, scaring
Cite this Source
Scary and Frightful. (2016). Retrieved 2026, July 21, from https://thesaurus.plus/related/frightful/scary
Frightful & Scary. N.p., 2016. Web. 21 Jul. 2026. <https://thesaurus.plus/related/frightful/scary>.
Scary or Frightful. 2016. Accessed July 21, 2026. https://thesaurus.plus/related/frightful/scary.
Google Ngram Viewer shows how "frightful" and "scary" have occurred on timeline