as in to frighten
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 terrify
The school attack, which terrified students and parents, capped a violent spree that left at least three people dead and more than a dozen others wounded across the city.
—
Stepheny Price, FOXNews.com, 4 Sep. 2025
Many are terrified of disrupting themselves.
—S.w. Miliano, Forbes.com, 2 Sep. 2025
People were terrified about dealing with the fact that two people were ending their lives.
—Alex Ritman, Variety, 28 Aug. 2025
The opportunity to really get into dancing and challenge myself there and be terrified, that was exciting to me.
—H. Alan Scott
jennifer Cunningham, MSNBC Newsweek, 27 Aug. 2025
See All Example Sentences for terrify
Stepheny Price, FOXNews.com, 4 Sep. 2025
Many are terrified of disrupting themselves.
—S.w. Miliano, Forbes.com, 2 Sep. 2025
People were terrified about dealing with the fact that two people were ending their lives.
—Alex Ritman, Variety, 28 Aug. 2025
The opportunity to really get into dancing and challenge myself there and be terrified, that was exciting to me.
—H. Alan Scott
jennifer Cunningham, MSNBC Newsweek, 27 Aug. 2025
See All Example Sentences for terrify
Recent Examples of Synonyms for terrify
Verb
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Judy Hernandez’ husband Raul, a co-founder of the community group the Resurrection Project, dismissed those plans as a political stunt geared to create fear and frighten Spanish-speaking people.—
Tess Kenny,
Chicago Tribune,
5 Sep. 2025
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Many of us are conditioned to think that our ultimate goal in life is to be with someone, so much so, that the mere thought of being alone frightens us.—
Mark Travers,
Forbes.com,
2 Sep. 2025
Verb
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Yet, at the same time, automation scares people.—
Arthur Azizov,
Forbes.com,
8 Sep. 2025
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Parents, scared by the specter of brain damage, are reluctant to let their kids play tackle football.—
Seth Wickersham,
The Atlantic,
8 Sep. 2025
Verb
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Then the Buckel brothers arrived, intent on doing the same, and Smith was startled.—
Olivia B. Waxman,
Time,
4 Sep. 2025
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Another Epstein accuser looked up, startled, to see where the deafening sound was coming from.—
Josh Meyer,
USA Today,
3 Sep. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Terrify.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/terrify. Accessed 10 Sep. 2025.
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