effrayant
French, adjective/e.fʁɛ.jɑ̃/
effrayant is spelled E-F-F-R-A-Y-A-N-T (9 letters) and appears 4.8 times per million words in written French, the 11,545th most frequent French word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). Effrayant is a French adjective meaning “causing fear, fearful, frightening” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). It is also a present participle of effrayer. The French Wiktionary (Wiktionnaire) defines it as “Qui fait peur ; qui donne de l’effroi ; qui effraye”.
What does effrayant mean in English?
adjective
- 1
causing fear, fearful, frightening
verb
- 1
present participle of effrayer
Source: English Wiktionary, French section, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0).
How French dictionaries define it
adjective: 1. Qui fait peur ; qui donne de l’effroi ; qui effraye. 2. Qui effraye par sa force, son intensité, son caractère extraordinaire. 3. Très important, excessif.
The definition in the French Wiktionary (Wiktionnaire), in French.
Source: French Wiktionary (Wiktionnaire), dump of September 1, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org.
Forms of effrayant
- effrayante feminine
- effrayants masculine plural
- effrayantes feminine plural
Source: English Wiktionary and French Wiktionary (Wiktionnaire) (dumps of September 2, 2026 and September 1, 2026).
How do you pronounce effrayant?
- /e.fʁɛ.jɑ̃/
- /e.fʁe.jɑ̃/
- \e.fʁɛ.jɑ̃\
Sources: English Wiktionary, French Wiktionary (Wiktionnaire) (dumps of September 2, 2026 and September 1, 2026); recordings from Wikimedia Commons.
English words that translate to effrayant
Source: the translation tables of the English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026.
How common is effrayant in French?
effrayant appears 4.8 times per million words in written French.
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).