terrify
verb
ter·ri·fy
ˈter-ə-ˌfī 
ˈte-rə-
terrified; terrifying
1
a
: to drive or impel by menacing : scare
b
: deter, intimidate
2
: to fill with terror
Examples of terrify in a Sentence
The thought of dying alone terrifies her.
the prospect of speaking in front of a huge crowd of people absolutely terrifies me
Recent Examples on the Web
And with his clutch reputation, teams are terrified of him in big moments.
—
Zach Harper, New York Times, 19 Feb. 2026
But after that, the administration was terrified of losing Tang – Arkansas had been sniffing around – and in order to guarantee that the coach who had led a whopping 36 games in his lifetime wasn’t going anywhere, gave him a fresh new deal with a bunch more money.
—Dana O’Neil, CNN Money, 17 Feb. 2026
In this way, Jackson became an easy shorthand propagandists could use to terrify white people into voting Republican.
—Adam Serwer, The Atlantic, 17 Feb. 2026
There are people here in this seven-on-seven who are s----ing themselves and terrified about what's to come.
—Nick Romano, Entertainment Weekly, 16 Feb. 2026
See All Example Sentences for terrify
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Zach Harper, New York Times, 19 Feb. 2026
But after that, the administration was terrified of losing Tang – Arkansas had been sniffing around – and in order to guarantee that the coach who had led a whopping 36 games in his lifetime wasn’t going anywhere, gave him a fresh new deal with a bunch more money.
—Dana O’Neil, CNN Money, 17 Feb. 2026
In this way, Jackson became an easy shorthand propagandists could use to terrify white people into voting Republican.
—Adam Serwer, The Atlantic, 17 Feb. 2026
There are people here in this seven-on-seven who are s----ing themselves and terrified about what's to come.
—Nick Romano, Entertainment Weekly, 16 Feb. 2026
See All Example Sentences for terrify
Cite this Entry
“Terrify.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/terrify. Accessed 26 Feb. 2026.
Copy CitationKids Definition
terrify
verb
ter·ri·fy
ˈter-ə-ˌfī
terrified; terrifying
: to fill with terror
terrifyingly
adverb
-ˌfī-iŋ-lē
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