as in frightening
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Recent Examples of Synonyms for persecutory
Adjective
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Amy Madigan’s striking performance is both funny and frightening, her witch an ancient, otherworldly being that only really understands power.—
Dani Di Placido,
Forbes.com,
11 Aug. 2025 -
Chad Michael Murray's journey to acting began with a frightening trip to the hospital.—
Shania Russell,
EW.com,
10 Aug. 2025
Adjective
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Overwhelmed and fearful of her future, Milena disappears.—
Leo Barraclough,
Variety,
4 Aug. 2025
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Guerrero kept his concerns about Mejia quiet for a time, fearful he could be fired from his job or even prosecuted.—
Bianca Moreno-Paz,
Austin American Statesman,
30 July 2025
Adjective
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The previous version of the immersive attraction brought guests face to face with the terrifying flickering TV screen, the menacing beast from beyond, and the pool filled with floating corpses.—
Simon Thompson,
Forbes.com,
7 Aug. 2025
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Rather than playing with the achromatic aesthetic of the terrifying teenager, Ortega and Inglessis focused on nude, earth tones.—
Kaleigh Werner,
Footwear News,
6 Aug. 2025
Adjective
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In 2014, Hudson gave a chilling performance as psychic Stevie in the horror film The Pact II.—
Zoey Lyttle,
People.com,
8 Aug. 2025
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And that has had a chilling effect on taking risks, especially since shows have gotten more and more expensive.—
Mikey O'Connell,
HollywoodReporter,
7 Aug. 2025
Adjective
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He’s really walked that tightrope of being scary but still keeping it fun.—
Simon Bland,
IndieWire,
6 Aug. 2025
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Unfortunately, the latter aspects suggested to a lot of potential viewers that Fantastic Four is a more dramatic and adult-skewing movie, where dangers and child-threat elements might be too scary or off-putting to the youngest kids and their parents.—
Mark Hughes,
Forbes.com,
5 Aug. 2025
Adjective
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Many are predicting that the duo will take the top two spots on the Aug. 8-10 chart, with Marvel Studios holdover The Fantastic Four: The First Steps coming in an unlucky third after dropping an alarming 67 percent to $38.6 million in its second outing over the Aug. 1-3 weekend.—
Pamela McClintock,
HollywoodReporter,
6 Aug. 2025
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Between 2019 and 2023, the U.S. saw an alarming, 110% increase in deaths due to hypoxia (or oxygen deprivation to the brain) stemming from nitrous oxide abuse, according to researchers.—
John Wenzel,
Denver Post,
6 Aug. 2025
Adjective
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Soroka is a combined 3-18 with a 4.81 ERA the last two seasons with the White Sox and Nationals, two horrible teams.—
Paul Sullivan,
Chicago Tribune,
5 Aug. 2025
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Xenomorphs in their various forms show up early and semi-often, along with several new beasts with their own deliciously horrible ways of killing.—
Angie Han,
HollywoodReporter,
5 Aug. 2025
Adjective
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Denver’s reserve offensive line largely cleaned up its play after some ghastly Friday reps, with much less yellow laundry Saturday.—
Luca Evans,
Denver Post,
2 Aug. 2025
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Abbass will play Leila, a former concert pianist from Syrian city Aleppo, which bore much of the brunt of the ghastly Syrian Civil War (2011-24).—
John Hopewell,
Variety,
14 July 2025
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Cite this Entry
“Persecutory.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/persecutory. Accessed 20 Aug. 2025.
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