as in to frighten
to strike with fear
the prospect of speaking in front of a huge crowd of people absolutely terrifies me
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Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of terrify
Those in Pakistan are terrified of being killed should they be forced to return.
—
Sophia Saifi, CNN, 6 Feb. 2025
And with Democrats unable to figure out their next moves and a news media terrified of retribution, there may be no one left to stop the self-destruction.
—S.e. Cupp, New York Daily News, 4 Feb. 2025
When the Covid mandate was announced, she was terrified of similar complications.
—Dexter Filkins, The New Yorker, 3 Feb. 2025
Instead of a confetti bomb going off, someone turns on the fog/smoke machine, terrifying all of the little pups into relieving themselves everywhere in fear.
—Shamira Ibrahim, Vulture, 3 Feb. 2025
See All Example Sentences for terrify
Sophia Saifi, CNN, 6 Feb. 2025
And with Democrats unable to figure out their next moves and a news media terrified of retribution, there may be no one left to stop the self-destruction.
—S.e. Cupp, New York Daily News, 4 Feb. 2025
When the Covid mandate was announced, she was terrified of similar complications.
—Dexter Filkins, The New Yorker, 3 Feb. 2025
Instead of a confetti bomb going off, someone turns on the fog/smoke machine, terrifying all of the little pups into relieving themselves everywhere in fear.
—Shamira Ibrahim, Vulture, 3 Feb. 2025
See All Example Sentences for terrify
Recent Examples of Synonyms for terrify
Verb
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On the streets, conservative protesters, frightened that the left could win the next election, have rallied to Yoon.—
ROBERT E. KELLY,
Foreign Affairs,
12 Feb. 2025
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That frightened stray kitten forgot her fears and moved up on that ball of paper and batted it across the floor and then batted it again.—
Carole Wendt,
Twin Cities,
7 Feb. 2025
Verb
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His limited resume and the fact he’s spent more time in the box than on the edge also might scare teams, which means Walker’s potential draft range could be rather large.—
Nick Baumgardner,
The Athletic,
18 Feb. 2025
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That's one week after Borderlands 4 and just in time to scare everyone (hopefully) during the all-spooky Halloween season.—
Fran Ruiz,
Space.com,
13 Feb. 2025
Verb
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Though friendly toward her until that moment, Tembo was startled by the noise.—
Scott Travers,
Forbes,
19 Feb. 2025
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But when Freed walked away, the elk got startled and ran into a gully full of snow.—
The Steamboat Pilot,
The Denver Post,
4 Feb. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Terrify.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/terrify. Accessed 4 Mar. 2025.
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