FRIGHTEN.
Synonyms:
| affright, | appal, | cow, | dismay, | scare, |
| alarm, | browbeat, | daunt, | intimidate, | terrify. |
One is frightened by a cause of fear addressed directly and suddenly to the senses; he is intimidated by an apprehension of contingent consequences dependent on some act of his own to be done or forborne; the means of intimidation may act through the senses, or may appeal only to the intellect or the sensibilities. The sudden rush of an armed madman may frighten; the quiet leveling of a highwayman's pistol intimidates. A savage beast is intimidated by the keeper's whip. Employers may intimidate their employees from voting contrary to their will by threat of discharge; a mother may be intimidated through fear for her child. To browbeat or cow is to bring into a state of submissive fear; to daunt is to give pause or check to a violent, threatening, or even a brave spirit. To scare is to cause sudden, unnerving fear; to terrify is to awaken fear that is overwhelming. Compare [ALARM].
FRUGALITY.
Synonyms:
| economy, | parsimony, | saving, | sparing, |
| miserliness, | providence, | scrimping, | thrift. |
| parsimoniousness, | prudence, | ||
Economy is a wise and careful administration of the means at one's disposal; frugality is a withholding of expenditure, or sparing of supplies or provision, to a noticeable and often to a painful degree; parsimony is excessive and unreasonable saving for the sake of saving. Frugality exalted into a virtue to be practised for its own sake, instead of as a means to an end, becomes the vice of parsimony. Miserliness is the denying oneself and others the ordinary comforts or even necessaries of life, for the mere sake of hoarding money. Prudence and providence look far ahead, and sacrifice the present to the future, saving as much as may be necessary for that end. (See [PRUDENCE].) Thrift seeks not merely to save, but to earn. Economy manages, frugality saves, providence plans, thrift at once earns and saves, with a view to wholesome and profitable expenditure at a fitting time. See [ABSTINENCE].