persecutive

adjective

Definition of persecutivenext
as in frightening

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Example Sentences

Recent Examples of Synonyms for persecutive
  1. frightening
  2. persecutory
  3. scary
  4. chilling
  5. harassing
  6. formidable
  7. terrifying
  8. terrible
Adjective
  • However, changing the Social Security formula to a means-testing base, and applying it immediately to all existing Social Security recipients, is a frightening idea.
    — U T Readers, San Diego Union-Tribune, 20 July 2026
  • Panettiere's pregnancy was marked by a series of frightening health scares.
    — Stephanie Nolasco, FOXNews.com, 20 July 2026
Definition of frightening
Adjective
  • For example, Americans living during World War II developed persecutory delusions involving Germans, while those living during the Cold War focused on communists.
    — Alaina Vandervoort Burns, The Conversation, 17 Dec. 2025
Definition of persecutory
Adjective
  • Penned by Aguirre-Sacasa based on the Archie Comics characters, Afterlife with Archie turns the all-American town of Riverdale into a zombie-overrun apocalypse — where the only thing scarier than the undead is trying to survive your teenage years.
    — Nellie Andreeva, Deadline, 20 July 2026
  • Scary allegations are not the whole story If voters listened to Trump’s speech without the benefits of fact-checkers or even Google, things sound really, really scary.
    — Philip Elliott, Time, 17 July 2026
Definition of scary
Adjective
  • That chilling effect, of course, is precisely what Trump is after.
    — Ruth Marcus, New Yorker, 18 July 2026
  • Republican officials are treating this chilling rant as little more than an annoying distraction.
    — Jonathan Chait, The Atlantic, 17 July 2026
Definition of chilling
Adjective
  • The first complaint, in which a clerk made similar accusations of abusive and harassing conduct, was filed with the circuit court in 2022, not long after Merriam’s appointment.
    — Edmund H. Mahony, Hartford Courant, 1 Jan. 2026
  • The line is crossed when someone’s conduct at work becomes disrespectful, harassing, intimidating, discriminatory, or disruptive to the team.
    — Johnny C. Taylor Jr, USA Today, 30 Dec. 2025
Definition of harassing
Adjective
  • In the $200,000 San Clemente Handicap 35-1 longshot Somerset West (Armando Ayuso) outran nine other 3-year-old fillies, including three formidable challengers who shipped in from the east.
    — Bill Center, San Diego Union-Tribune, 19 July 2026
  • Ohtani spearheads the game’s most formidable hypothetical October rotation.
    — Fabian Ardaya, New York Times, 18 July 2026
Definition of formidable
Adjective
  • Set thousands of years in the future, the Blight has wiped out most of civilization, and while the name sounds gruesome and terrifying, the Blight itself is verdant and filled with flowers.
    — Ollie Barder, Forbes.com, 23 July 2026
  • The trailer shows Depp as Scrooge tormented by the terrifying spirits of Christmas, haunting him throughout the Christmas season.
    — Tanya Fedak, Variety, 23 July 2026
Definition of terrifying
Adjective
  • Why do some people stay in terrible, horrible, no good, very bad jobs?
    — Joseph Kim, NPR, 22 July 2026
  • Three years ago, Victor Wembanyama was terrible, and Houston’s Cam Whitmore won Summer MVP.
    — John Hollinger, New York Times, 22 July 2026
Definition of terrible
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

Browse Nearby Words

persecutions
persecutive
persecutor
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Cite this Entry

“Persecutive.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/persecutive. Accessed 25 Jul. 2026.

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