as in frightening
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Recent Examples of persecutory
For example, Americans living during World War II developed persecutory delusions involving Germans, while those living during the Cold War focused on communists.
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Alaina Vandervoort Burns, The Conversation, 17 Dec. 2025
Alaina Vandervoort Burns, The Conversation, 17 Dec. 2025
Recent Examples of Synonyms for persecutory
Adjective
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Earlier movie versions have managed the story’s most frightening moments with the limited technology available at the time—much plastic and spongy stuff; monsters in process shots looming over little men; papier-mâché boulders flung from hilltops.—
David Denby,
New Yorker,
21 June 2026
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Even more frightening, the percentage exceeded 50% in many groups, including insects, terrestrial vertebrates, and marine species.—
Maria Mocerino,
Interesting Engineering,
21 June 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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Furthermore, Kalambay casts doubt on the idea that Ilunga was fearful for his own or his family’s life.—
Nick Miller,
New York Times,
17 June 2026
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Fiction can be tempting when facts prove elusive, and Tannahill’s series cherishes dancing between the demanding allure of the unknown and the fearful certainty of what can happen when pursuing it.—
Ben Travers,
IndieWire,
12 June 2026
Adjective
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This terrifying, wondrous circle spinning around us here on Earth.—
Literary Hub,
Literary Hub,
19 June 2026
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What would be terrifying is to not have that opportunity.—
Yvonne Villarreal,
Los Angeles Times,
19 June 2026
Adjective
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Some human rights experts have said that detaining such a high-ranking and high-profile doctor has left a chilling effect.—
Mary Kekatos,
ABC News,
20 June 2026
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The commemoration this year highlights a trend toward a chilling erasure of history, culture and achievements of African-Americans.—
Voice of the People,
New York Daily News,
19 June 2026
Adjective
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There were some scary moments at the nest earlier in the spring when viewers watched one of the eaglets, then just named USS 11, swallow a fishhook.—
Madeline Bartos,
CBS News,
22 June 2026
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Exciting but scary findings During another of the key microplastics studies published so far, researchers at the University of Rhode Island tested mice that had been modified to include a gene, APOE4, linked to Alzheimer’s disease.—
Michael Hawthorne,
Chicago Tribune,
21 June 2026
Adjective
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During the off-season, a board member drove by Harris Roads Field, home of the Ypsilanti National Little League, and made an alarming discovery.—
Veronica Ortega,
CBS News,
17 June 2026
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Bright red toadstools, funky jelly fungus, and rounded puffball mushrooms in lawn grass may look alarming.—
Lauren Landers,
The Spruce,
16 June 2026
Adjective
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Iran’s terrible, horrible, no good, very bad World Cup got a lot better Sunday.—
Los Angeles Times,
Los Angeles Times,
21 June 2026
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What started as a horrible mistake ended up bringing the community together.—
Andrea Nakano,
CBS News,
18 June 2026
Cite this Entry
“Persecutory.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/persecutory. Accessed 23 Jun. 2026.
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