affright, fright, frighten, scare - cause fear in; "The stranger who hangs around the building frightens me"

hold over - intimidate somebody (with a threat); "She was holding it over him"

ballyrag, boss around, browbeat, bully, bullyrag, hector, push around, strong-arm - be bossy towards; "Her big brother always bullied her when she was young"

daunt, frighten away, frighten off, scare away, scare off, pall, scare, dash - cause to lose courage; "dashed by the refusal"

discourage - deprive of courage or hope; take away hope from; cause to feel discouraged