How to Say "frightens" in Spanish
The Spanish word for “frightens” is “asusta” — A2 level. This is a very common word in everyday Spanish.
Examples
Esa película de terror siempre me asusta mucho.
That horror movie always scares me a lot.
El ruido de la alarma asusta a todos los vecinos.
The noise of the alarm frightens all the neighbors.
Usted asusta a la gente cuando aparece de repente.
You scare people when you appear suddenly. (Formal)
The 'Gustar' Connection
Like gustar ('to like'), asustar is often used backward: the thing that does the frightening is the subject. We say 'Me asusta la araña' (The spider scares me), not 'Yo asusto la araña' (I scare the spider).
Dual Use: Present Tense or Command
'Asusta' is used for 'he/she/it scares' (present tense) AND the informal command 'Scare!' ('¡Asusta a tu amigo!'). The context tells you which one it is.
Mixing up the feeling and the action
Mistake: “Estoy asusta (I am scare).”
Correction: Estoy asustado/a (I am scared). Use the past participle to describe the feeling, not the verb form 'asusta'.
Learn Spanish with Inklingo
Interactive stories, personalized learning, and more.