terrorist

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noun

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

terrorist

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adjective

: 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

There 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

Examples of terrorist in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

Noun

Curtis' podcast episode was recorded two days after Kirk's killing and one day after the 24th anniversary of the 9/11 terrorist attacks. —Brendan Morrow, USA Today, 16 Sep. 2025

Right-wing terrorists account for over half of those murders, some 54%, according to research by the Cato Institute, a libertarian think tank. —Rebecca Schneid, Time, 16 Sep. 2025

Adjective

Her most significant achievement, however, was a series of concerts, in 1987, at the Bataclan, the Paris theatre that would become the site of a terrorist attack, in 2015. —Anahid Nersessian, New Yorker, 15 Sep. 2025

Fest organizers raised early flags that clearances for footage of terrorist attacks taken by Hamas cameras and included in the documentary had not been obtained. —Etan Vlessing, HollywoodReporter, 14 Sep. 2025

Word History

First Known Use

Noun

1794, in the meaning defined above

Adjective

1795, in the meaning defined above

Phrases Containing terrorist

• anti-terrorist