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View synonyms for

terrify

[ ter-uh-fahy ]

verb (used with object)

terrified, terrifying.
  1. to fill with terror or alarm; make greatly afraid.


terrify

/ ˈɛɪˌڲɪ /

verb

  1. tr to inspire fear or dread in; frighten greatly
“Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged” 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
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Derived Forms

  • ˈٱˌھ, noun
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Other Word Forms

  • ٱ۾·ھe noun
  • ٱ۾·ڲiԲ· adverb
  • ܲ·ٱ۾·ھ adjective
  • ܲ·ٱ۾·ڲiԲ adjective
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Word History and Origins

Origin of terrify1

1565–75; < Latin ٱھ, equivalent to terr ( ŧ ) to frighten + -ify
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Word History and Origins

Origin of terrify1

C16: from Latin ٱھ, from terrŧ to alarm + facere to cause
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Synonym Study

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Example Sentences

Examples have not been reviewed.

"Whilst losing sight in one eye is terrifying," she says, "my biggest fear was that it might spread to my left eye."

From

In the run-up to the 2024 election, on cable news shows and at dinner tables, Americans debated a question that terrified various groups of us for various reasons.

From

The footage then shows him slamming the door on her foot and kicking the car window before dragging her terrified pet dog away by its lead.

From

Virgil is vicious and terrifying, and, as Bailey puts it in an interview, “There is no quicker shorthand for a scumbag than someone who is beating up a defenseless woman.”

From

We see it in the infamous "Mar-a-Lago" face, which uses plastic surgery and spackled-on make-up to turn women into terrifyingly exaggerated caricatures of femininity.

From

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