ter·ror·ist
ˈter-ər-ist 
plural terrorists
: an advocate or practitioner of terrorism as a means of coercion
Opposition still runs high to the idea of releasing or bringing into U.S. prisons dozens of men widely considered dangerous terrorists even if many are not.
Less than three weeks before the Winter Olympics are set to begin in the Russian city of Sochi, police there have begun hunting for suspected terrorists allegedly plotting attacks.—
Time
Time
: or, relating to, or characteristic of terrorists or terrorism : practicing or involving violent acts of terror
a terrorist organization
The consequences of the U.S. response to the terrorist attacks of September 2001 will ramify for decades.—Joe Klein
Joe KleinThere is no margin for error when a real terrorist threat is present and the safety of the public, and the first responders, is in jeopardy.—Gary J. Laughlin
Gary J. LaughlinExamples of terrorist in a Sentence
Recent Examples on the WebRuth Margalit, The New Yorker, 16 Apr. 2024
The Saturday attack on Israel came more than six months after Hamas terrorists invaded the country on Oct. 7, 2023, after which the Israeli military began its bombardment of the Gaza Strip.
—Melissa Gaffney, ABC News, 14 Apr. 2024
One, that foreign terrorists don't seek to travel to the homeland to inflict damage here.
—CBS News, 14 Apr. 2024
But Hamas isn’t defeated and Israeli soldiers have been forced to recapture the same places — like Gaza City’s Shifa hospital — that were supposed to have been cleared of terrorists months ago.
—Bret Stephens, The Mercury News, 11 Apr. 2024
The country will be forced to free terrorists held in Israeli prisons, including people with the blood of Israeli civilians on their hands.
—Ami Ayalon, Foreign Affairs, 11 Apr. 2024
The sources added that, since the attack in Moscow, terrorists are trying to maintain a climate of alarm and fear.
—Joseph Ataman, CNN, 9 Apr. 2024
After the vehicles left the warehouse where the aid had been unloaded, one of the commanders mistakenly assumed that the gunmen were located inside the accompanying vehicles and that these were Hamas terrorists.
—NBC News, 5 Apr. 2024
Jordan’s government has been one of the most vocal opponents of Israel’s war to root out Hamas terrorists from Gaza after the jihadi movement slaughtered 1,200 people on Oct. 7, including many Americans.
—Benjamin Weinthal, Fox News, 4 Apr. 2024
Elsa Keslassy, Variety, 18 Apr. 2024
Gilad Erdan, Israel’s top diplomat to the U.N., called for the Security Council to meet immediately to condemn Iran’s attacks and to designate the Iranian Revolutionary Guards a terrorist organization.
—Susan Miller, USA TODAY, 14 Apr. 2024
This would intolerably increase the danger that terrorist plots will lead to terrorist attacks, and the potential that Americans targeted by hackers and other foreign cyber-operatives will suffer irreparable harm.
—The Editors, National Review, 12 Apr. 2024
The minister of intelligence declared that Tehran considered the channel to be a terrorist organization.
—Arash Azizi, The Atlantic, 12 Apr. 2024
Hamas, which is designated a terrorist organization by the United States, killed about 1,200 Israelis on Oct. 7 in an attack launched from Gaza.
—Sarah Lapidus, The Arizona Republic, 12 Apr. 2024
Beyond ballistic missiles, Iran could turn to its partners and proxies in the region to attack Israeli interests with conventional weapons or unconventionally with terrorist attacks.
—Javed Ali, The Conversation, 11 Apr. 2024
With the assistance of its friends—especially the United States—Iraq has managed to defeat the most ruthless terrorist organization in recent history.
—Mohammed Shia Al-Sudani, Foreign Affairs, 11 Apr. 2024
California universities, including Stanford and Berkeley, have been roiled by tensions since the Oct. 7 attack on Israel by Hamas, deemed a terrorist organization by the US and European Union.
—Bloomberg, The Mercury News, 11 Apr. 2024
Noun
Dickmann’s cousin Carmel Gat is thirty-nine, a yoga practitioner who had just returned from a trip to India when Hamas terrorists infiltrated the kibbutz.
—Ruth Margalit, The New Yorker, 16 Apr. 2024
The Saturday attack on Israel came more than six months after Hamas terrorists invaded the country on Oct. 7, 2023, after which the Israeli military began its bombardment of the Gaza Strip.
—Melissa Gaffney, ABC News, 14 Apr. 2024
One, that foreign terrorists don't seek to travel to the homeland to inflict damage here.
—CBS News, 14 Apr. 2024
But Hamas isn’t defeated and Israeli soldiers have been forced to recapture the same places — like Gaza City’s Shifa hospital — that were supposed to have been cleared of terrorists months ago.
—Bret Stephens, The Mercury News, 11 Apr. 2024
The country will be forced to free terrorists held in Israeli prisons, including people with the blood of Israeli civilians on their hands.
—Ami Ayalon, Foreign Affairs, 11 Apr. 2024
The sources added that, since the attack in Moscow, terrorists are trying to maintain a climate of alarm and fear.
—Joseph Ataman, CNN, 9 Apr. 2024
After the vehicles left the warehouse where the aid had been unloaded, one of the commanders mistakenly assumed that the gunmen were located inside the accompanying vehicles and that these were Hamas terrorists.
—NBC News, 5 Apr. 2024
Jordan’s government has been one of the most vocal opponents of Israel’s war to root out Hamas terrorists from Gaza after the jihadi movement slaughtered 1,200 people on Oct. 7, including many Americans.
—Benjamin Weinthal, Fox News, 4 Apr. 2024
Adjective
Popular on Variety Planning for these Games came on the heels of the Bataclan terrorist attacks in November 2015 that left 130 people dead.
—Elsa Keslassy, Variety, 18 Apr. 2024
Gilad Erdan, Israel’s top diplomat to the U.N., called for the Security Council to meet immediately to condemn Iran’s attacks and to designate the Iranian Revolutionary Guards a terrorist organization.
—Susan Miller, USA TODAY, 14 Apr. 2024
This would intolerably increase the danger that terrorist plots will lead to terrorist attacks, and the potential that Americans targeted by hackers and other foreign cyber-operatives will suffer irreparable harm.
—The Editors, National Review, 12 Apr. 2024
The minister of intelligence declared that Tehran considered the channel to be a terrorist organization.
—Arash Azizi, The Atlantic, 12 Apr. 2024
Hamas, which is designated a terrorist organization by the United States, killed about 1,200 Israelis on Oct. 7 in an attack launched from Gaza.
—Sarah Lapidus, The Arizona Republic, 12 Apr. 2024
Beyond ballistic missiles, Iran could turn to its partners and proxies in the region to attack Israeli interests with conventional weapons or unconventionally with terrorist attacks.
—Javed Ali, The Conversation, 11 Apr. 2024
With the assistance of its friends—especially the United States—Iraq has managed to defeat the most ruthless terrorist organization in recent history.
—Mohammed Shia Al-Sudani, Foreign Affairs, 11 Apr. 2024
California universities, including Stanford and Berkeley, have been roiled by tensions since the Oct. 7 attack on Israel by Hamas, deemed a terrorist organization by the US and European Union.
—Bloomberg, The Mercury News, 11 Apr. 2024
These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'terrorist.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.
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Cite this Entry
“Terrorist.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/terrorist. Accessed 24 Apr. 2024.
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