alarm、frighten、startle、terrify、scare与intimidate这些动词均有“惊吓、惊恐”之意。
alarm ：着重指某人意识到危险而突然产生的惊恐。
- ‘What have you done?’ Ellie cried in alarm.
“你都干了些什么？”埃利惊恐地喊道。
frighten ：普通用词，使用广泛，指产生突然、短暂的惊慌、恐怖感。
- He knew that Soli was trying to frighten him, so he smiled to hide his fear.
他知道索利是想吓唬他，所以他挤出笑容掩饰自己的恐惧。
startle ：强调突然使人惊骇或震惊。
- 我一进办公室，发现一条恶狗坐在里面，把我吓了一跳。
It startled me to find a savage dog sitting in my office. - 那个沉默寡言的女孩正在聚精会神地看书，被他刺耳的嗓音吓了一跳。
The reticent girl was concentrating on her book and his strident voice startled her.
（拓展学习：小词详解 | startle）
terrify ：语气最强，指惊骇得六神无主，魂飞魄散。
- The thought of dying slowly and painfully terrified me.
缓慢而痛苦地死去的想法使我恐惧不已。
scare ：指非正式文体中可与frighten换用，但语气较重，侧重人受惊吓后立即停下正在干的事或跑掉。
- It scared me to think I was alone in the building.
想到楼里只有我一个人，怪害怕的。
intimidate ：特指恐吓某人，迫使其做某事。
- They were accused of intimidating people into voting for them.
他们被控胁迫选民投他们的票。
