What's the difference between frighten and threaten?

Frighten


Definition:

  • (v. t.) To disturb with fear; to throw into a state of alarm or fright; to affright; to terrify.

Example Sentences:

  • (1) A former Labour minister, Nicholas Brown, said the public were frightened they "were going to be spied on" and that "illegally obtained" information would find its way to the public domain.
  • (2) The sound of the ambulance frightened us, especially us children, and panic gripped the entire community: people believe that whoever is taken into the ambulance to the hospital will die – you so often don’t see them again.
  • (3) Can somebody who is not a billionaire, who stands for working families, actually win an election into which billionaires are pouring millions of dollars?” Naming prominent and controversial rightwing donors, he said: “It is not just Hillary, it is the Koch brothers, it is Sheldon Adelson.” Stephanopoulos seized the moment, asking: “Are you lumping her in with them?” Choosing to refer to the 2010 supreme court decision that removed limits on corporate political donations, rather than address the question directly, Sanders replied: “What I am saying is that I get very frightened about the future of American democracy when this becomes a battle between billionaires.
  • (4) Subjective measures of anxiety, frightening cognitions and body sensations were obtained across the phases.
  • (5) There is no support in the system and it’s a very frightening and distressing situation to be in.
  • (6) "The problem in the community is that the elderly who live on their own on ground floors are frightened to open the windows because of vandalism and burglary," he says.
  • (7) You say that she taught you not to feel frightened.
  • (8) The facts speak for themselves but it was Mayweather’s refusal to address the allegations that was particularly frightening.
  • (9) Despite the warnings, new protesters of all ages continued to arrive in the camp, insisting they would not be frightened away.
  • (10) "I heard five explosions during the protest this evening and I was frightened - I just wanted to get out of there.
  • (11) I briefly consider logging into a relative’s AOL account and entering the keywords “the sadness of constantly frightened old white people”, but that seems too general.
  • (12) Regardless of fringe rucks, these protests are more likely to lay the ground for wider public and industrial campaigns than frighten them off.
  • (13) Ukraine frightened people here,” says one diplomatic source in Minsk.
  • (14) This is the most frightening picture you will ever see.
  • (15) Actually, I had betrayed the seriousness of what had happened, because my story ignored the fact that I had been genuinely frightened and in a degree of danger during the heckling.
  • (16) Narcolepsy, with its specific symptomatology is an intriguing but often frightening disease.
  • (17) The comedian Stephen Mangan called Cameron’s warning “panicky” and “daft”, while another comedian, Vikki Stone, shared a picture of herself hiding in the shed with a colander on her head and said: “Dear David Cameron I’m frightened.
  • (18) Of those who did not read the notes, only four (17%) were frightened by what they might read, while others stated that they did not have their glasses, could not read, did not think it was their place, thought the notes would not be interesting, or did not understand the policy.
  • (19) Sonia Zambakides, head of Save the Children's Somalia emergency response, added: "While there has been an improvement in these areas thanks to the international aid effort, children are still dying at a frightening rate across Somalia.
  • (20) The reality of the plan you went along with and helped execute was that your children were to be frightened out of sleep in the middle of the night and rescued by their father from a fire that should never have been started.

Threaten


Definition:

  • (v. t.) To utter threats against; to menace; to inspire with apprehension; to alarm, or attempt to alarm, as with the promise of something evil or disagreeable; to warn.
  • (v. t.) To exhibit the appearance of (something evil or unpleasant) as approaching; to indicate as impending; to announce the conditional infliction of; as, to threaten war; to threaten death.
  • (v. i.) To use threats, or menaces; also, to have a threatening appearance.

Example Sentences:

  • (1) One hundred and twenty-seven states have said with common voice that their security is directly threatened by the 15,000 nuclear weapons that exist in the arsenals of nine countries, and they are demanding that these weapons be prohibited and abolished.
  • (2) The significance of minor increases in the serum creatinine level must be recognized, so that modifications of drug therapy can be made and correction of possibly life-threatening electrolyte imbalances can be undertaken.
  • (3) The hospital whose A&E unit has been threatened with closure on safety grounds has admitted that four patients died after errors by staff in the emergency department and other areas.
  • (4) Certainly, Saunders did not land a single blow that threatened to stop his opponent, although he took quite a few himself that threatened his titles in the final few rounds.
  • (5) Shelter’s analysis of MoJ figures highlights high-risk hotspots across the country where families are particularly at risk of losing their homes, with households in Newham, east London, most exposed to the possibility of eviction or repossession, with one in every 36 homes threatened.
  • (6) Active cytomegalovirus (CMV) infection is associated with immunosuppression and predisposes to the development of life-threatening superinfections in immunocompromised patients.
  • (7) A paraesophageal hernia may be life-threatening and requires surgical correction when diagnosed.
  • (8) It is concluded that based on readily available clinical criteria at the time of admission, a subgroup of patients at low risk for developing life-threatening complications requiring coronary care unit interventions can be identified and admitted directly to an intermediate-care unit.
  • (9) Aspergillomas generally arise from saprophytic colonization of a pre-existing pulmonary cavity with Aspergillus, and may be complicated by life-threatening hemoptosis.
  • (10) 1) The incidence of premature rupture of the membranes (PROM), threatened premature delivery, toxemia and abruption placentae were 40.6, 36.4, 7.8 and 3.0%, respectively.
  • (11) I haven't had to face anyone like the man who threatened to call the police when he decided his card had been cloned after sharing three bottles of wine with his wife, or the drunk woman who became violent and announced that she was a solicitor who was going to get this fucking place shut down – two customers Andrew had to deal with on the same night.
  • (12) Martin O’Neill spoke of his satisfaction at the Republic of Ireland’s score draw in the first leg of their Euro 2016 play-off against Bosnia-Herzegovina – and of his relief that the match was not abandoned despite the dense fog that descended in the second half and threatened to turn the game into a farce.
  • (13) VAT increases don't just hit the poor more than the rich, they also hit small firms, threaten retail jobs and, by boosting inflation, could also lead to higher interest rates."
  • (14) Interferon alfa-2a appears to induce the early regression of life-threatening corticosteroid-resistant hemangiomas of infancy.
  • (15) The notion of life-threatening dermatoses may seem to be a contradiction in terms, but in fact there are a number of serious dermatologic conditions that require prompt attention to prevent fatal consequences.
  • (16) Ninety women with a positive pregnancy test and signs and symptoms of threatened abortion or ectopic pregnancy had endovaginal and abdominal sonography in order to compare the value of the two techniques for the detection of gestational abnormalities.
  • (17) However in a repeat of the current standoff over the federal budget, the conservative wing of the Republican party is threatening to exploit its leverage over raising the debt ceiling to unpick Obama's healthcare reforms.
  • (18) BAE is likely to have made provision for much heavier penalties and its financial stability will not be threatened.
  • (19) Obstetrician-gynecologists must place lymphocytic adenohypophysitis in the differential diagnosis of pituitary enlargement associated with pregnancy, since treatment is available and the sequelae may be life-threatening.
  • (20) They have repeatedly threatened to derail the country's progress," Kassem added.