dismay vs frighten

dismay

verb
  • To cause to feel apprehension; great sadness, or fear; to deprive of energy 

  • To take dismay or fright; to be filled with dismay. 

  • To render lifeless; to subdue; to disquiet. 

noun
  • A sudden or complete loss of courage and firmness in the face of trouble or danger; overwhelming and disabling terror; a sinking of the spirits 

  • Condition fitted to dismay; ruin. 

frighten

verb
  • To cause to feel fear; to scare; to cause to feel alarm or fright. 

How often have the words dismay and frighten occurred in a corpus of books? (source: Google Ngram Viewer )