as in frightening
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Example Sentences
Recent Examples of Synonyms for persecutive
Adjective
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Vonn badly injured her left leg in a frightening crash in the Olympic downhill and won't be able to add points to her seasonal tally, but the American standout still leads the way with 400 points after two wins and three more podium results.—
ABC News,
ABC News,
27 Feb. 2026 -
Friends reported that his pupils, which doubled in size during an attack, were frightening.—
Literary Hub,
Literary Hub,
24 Feb. 2026
Adjective
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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
Adjective
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But for the audience the scariest revelation in the conversation isn’t his dogmatism.—
Inkoo Kang,
New Yorker,
1 Mar. 2026
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Dogs often learn from a young age that water isn’t scary.—
Popular Science Team,
Popular Science,
27 Feb. 2026
Adjective
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Once the flowers and foliage fade, the bulbs should be dug up from the garden, allowed to dry, and stored until the fall to begin the chilling process again.—
Mary Marlowe Leverette,
Southern Living,
6 Mar. 2026
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In addition, staff writer Eric Sondheimer placed in the top 10 for short features for his report highlighting the chilling impact ICE raids had on high school football workouts.—
Los Angeles Times,
Los Angeles Times,
6 Mar. 2026
Adjective
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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
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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
Adjective
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Makes for a pretty formidable opponent, especially in your own division.—
Kevin Sherrington
Mar. 6,
Dallas Morning News,
6 Mar. 2026
-
At 38-24 and a half-game ahead of the Lakers, star center Nikola Jokic’s squad is always formidable — and looking to avenge a loss to Redick’s team in their first matchup, 115-107 in a game Jokic didn’t play.—
Los Angeles Times,
Los Angeles Times,
5 Mar. 2026
Adjective
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Lisa Piper stood on her back deck and took video of a terrifying scene that played out on the other side of frozen Union Lake as a funnel cloud formed and then dropped toward the ground Friday.—
Arkansas Online,
Arkansas Online,
8 Mar. 2026
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Lisa Piper stood on her back deck and took video of a terrifying scene that played out on the other side of frozen Union Lake as a funnel cloud formed and then dropped toward the ground.—
Dallas Morning News,
Dallas Morning News,
7 Mar. 2026
Adjective
-
So many terrible things happen that the reader develops a kind of flinch, bracing for the next calamity whenever there is a brief lull in the misery.—
Literary Hub,
Literary Hub,
5 Mar. 2026
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My actions were selfish; my actions were terrible.—
Shelly Bradbury,
Denver Post,
5 Mar. 2026
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Cite this Entry
“Persecutive.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/persecutive. Accessed 9 Mar. 2026.
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