1
as in terrifying
causing fear
the school's seniors faced the intimidating prospect of the college entrance exams
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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
2
as in gruff
harsh and threatening in manner or appearance
an intimidating bodyguard keeping the fans away from the pop star
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as in frightening
to make timid or fearful by or as if by threats
refusing to be intimidated by the manager's harsh stare, I demanded my money back
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Examples of intimidating in a Sentence
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Recent Examples on the Web
EW.com, 17 Oct. 2024
Simplifying Skincare for Everyone Traditionally, the skincare space has a reputation for being complicated and intimidating.
—Kyle J. Russell, USA TODAY, 16 Oct. 2024
The persistent process of erosion is powerful enough to cause the world’s most intimidating mountain range to rise slowly up out of the mantle, growing in elevation each year.
—Carly Miller, Forbes, 30 Sep. 2024
Most communities have trick-or-treaters roaming around as early as 4:30 or 5pm, which allows the littlest crowd to experience the holiday in a less intimidating way.
—Christin Perry, Parents, 20 Sep. 2024
See all Example Sentences for intimidating 
Adjective
And Tony Todd is pitch-perfect as a hero who, at times, can be as intimidating as the undead outside the house.
—EW.com, 17 Oct. 2024
Simplifying Skincare for Everyone Traditionally, the skincare space has a reputation for being complicated and intimidating.
—Kyle J. Russell, USA TODAY, 16 Oct. 2024
The persistent process of erosion is powerful enough to cause the world’s most intimidating mountain range to rise slowly up out of the mantle, growing in elevation each year.
—Carly Miller, Forbes, 30 Sep. 2024
Most communities have trick-or-treaters roaming around as early as 4:30 or 5pm, which allows the littlest crowd to experience the holiday in a less intimidating way.
—Christin Perry, Parents, 20 Sep. 2024
See all Example Sentences for intimidating
Recent Examples of Synonyms for intimidating
Adjective
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Understanding market history helps – while each crisis feels unique and terrifying in the moment, volatility and downturns are normal parts of the market cycle.Robert Daugherty, Forbes, 29 Oct. 2024
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Tasha and Dakota Adams describe the peak Oath Keeper years of 2016 to 2018 as a chaotic, terrifying regime under the Rhodes dictatorship.Will Carless, USA TODAY, 28 Oct. 2024
Adjective
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Created by Ben Davies and Timothy Lee, Territory is boldly and unapologetically meat-and-potatoes television, in which everybody is gruff, sweaty and coated in a fine layer of dust, as if to reenforce the connection between these characters and the Top End.Daniel Fienberg, The Hollywood Reporter, 23 Oct. 2024
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Unfortunately, Cullum softens the character’s gruff charm.Charles McNulty, Los Angeles Times, 15 Oct. 2024
Adjective
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With so much focus on AI and data, the most frightening thing to me is people exclusively depending on KPIs and data analysis to make decisions that impact people.Sasha Rogelberg, Fortune, 31 Oct. 2024
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Not after a season of off-field adversity, including his 3-year-old son Max’s battle with a frightening case of Guillain-Barré syndrome in August, briefly leaving him paralyzed.Jack Harris, Los Angeles Times, 26 Oct. 2024
Adjective
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There's no Democrat in the race, technically, as Fischer is fending off a fierce challenge from independent Senate candidate Dan Osborn, a union leader.Nicholas Kerr, ABC News, 3 Nov. 2024
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But he’s also made one of his most satisfying movie movies to date by centering the experiences of three (and eventually four) fierce women, rather than his usual brooding men.Robert Abele, Los Angeles Times, 2 Nov. 2024
Adjective
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Accompanied by a versatile backing band of no less than 30 musicians, Wonder — clad in demin and a black Detroit Tigers cap — soared through his extensive repertoire, showing off his formidable abilities as a musician as well as his love for his audience.Caryn Rose, Variety, 23 Oct. 2024
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Horowitz has built a formidable e-commerce business, which now makes up 50% of company sales.Phil Wahba, Fortune, 22 Oct. 2024
Adjective
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This week, Netanyahu’s defense and internal security ministers received an unusually stern letter from the U.S. government threatening to review military assistance if the Israeli government continued to block essential aid from entering the Gaza Strip.David Hodari, NBC News, 18 Oct. 2024
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The stern letter from the secretary of state and the Pentagon comes amid the worst month for relief efforts since the war began.Brett Murphy, ProPublica, 15 Oct. 2024
Adjective
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Simplify your choices, embrace scary risks, make quick calls, trust your instincts, and say yes to the weird stuff.Jodie Cook, Forbes, 28 Oct. 2024
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Ahead of this week’s festivities, Vogue editors and contributors from Alix Earle to Chris Appleton are sharing their favorite spooky scary inspiration—with a fashionable twist.Vogue, Vogue, 28 Oct. 2024
Adjective
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And besides fears about unsafe living conditions due to mold in homes, the 12-foot-long pile of debris outside his home is a grim reminder of the last five weeks.Solcyré Burga, TIME, 31 Oct. 2024
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This meticulous preparation paid off, particularly during one of the film’s most harrowing sequences — when the broadcast team receives false information that the hostages have survived, only to later learn the grim truth.Clayton Davis, Variety, 29 Oct. 2024
Thesaurus Entries Near intimidating
Cite this Entry
“Intimidating.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/intimidating. Accessed 10 Nov. 2024.
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