student asking question

What's the difference between "scare someone off" and "scare someone"?

teacher

Native speaker’s answer

Rebecca

These expressions are fairly similar! While "scaring someone" means that you are frightening someone or inducing fear in another, "scaring someone off" has the added meaning of scaring someone so much that they leave or run away from fear. This is the meaning intended by the speaker in this video. Ex: The gloomy atmosphere of the house scared off all potential buyers. Ex: The dog's barking scared off the robber.

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