as in frightens
to strike with fear
the prospect of speaking in front of a huge crowd of people absolutely terrifies me
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Recent Examples of terrifies
Jesus may haunt Wendell, but Wendell terrifies Lee.
—
Amanda Whiting, Vulture, 15 Oct. 2025
Even those who like parts of his agenda have been stumped about how to talk him out of the stuff that terrifies them — whiplash tariffs and a labor-depleting immigration crackdown.
—Rohan Goswami, semafor.com, 7 Oct. 2025
The first time terrifies every founder.
—Jodie Cook, Forbes.com, 10 Sep. 2025
The moped-like sound of the Shaheds whooshing above the rooftops still unsettles but no longer terrifies.
—IEEE Spectrum, 18 May 2025
Amanda Whiting, Vulture, 15 Oct. 2025
Even those who like parts of his agenda have been stumped about how to talk him out of the stuff that terrifies them — whiplash tariffs and a labor-depleting immigration crackdown.
—Rohan Goswami, semafor.com, 7 Oct. 2025
The first time terrifies every founder.
—Jodie Cook, Forbes.com, 10 Sep. 2025
The moped-like sound of the Shaheds whooshing above the rooftops still unsettles but no longer terrifies.
—IEEE Spectrum, 18 May 2025
Recent Examples of Synonyms for terrifies
Verb
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Within my book, one of the things that frightens me most is the fact that with censorship, there’s often not a clear red line, right?—
Fiction Non Fiction
October 2,
Literary Hub,
2 Oct. 2025
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What specifically frightens you?—
Tim Brinkhof,
Big Think,
15 Sep. 2025
Verb
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Nice to know there’s stuff that scares him.—
Randall Colburn,
Entertainment Weekly,
6 Oct. 2025
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There’s something about kidnapping that scares the fear out of you, Goldberg-Polin says.—
Romina Ruiz-Goiriena,
USA Today,
4 Oct. 2025
Verb
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As the dolphin gets closer to the glass, the Chihuahua lets out a bark that startles the dolphin, who then starts mimicking the dog's mouth movements in a sort of chasing game across species.—
Maria Azzurra Volpe,
MSNBC Newsweek,
18 Aug. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Terrifies.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/terrifies. Accessed 24 Oct. 2025.
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