as in to frighten
to strike with fear
the prospect of speaking in front of a huge crowd of people absolutely terrifies me
Synonyms & Similar Words
Relevance
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
Example Sentences
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to
show current usage.
Read More
Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors.
Send us feedback.
Recent Examples of terrify
Now the immigrant community across the Western Slope is going to be terrified.
—
Shelly Bradbury, Denver Post, 17 June 2025
But the idea of an algorithm, which is as prone to generate nonsense as anything lucid, representing a deceased person’s thoughts or behaviors seems terrifying.
—ArsTechnica, 13 June 2025
Major financial institutions, once terrified of reputational blowback, are swiftly rolling out digital asset desks again.
—Nina Bambysheva, Forbes.com, 10 June 2025
For about 90% of those individuals, the illusions are terrifying.
—Kristen Rogers, CNN Money, 8 June 2025
See All Example Sentences for terrify
Shelly Bradbury, Denver Post, 17 June 2025
But the idea of an algorithm, which is as prone to generate nonsense as anything lucid, representing a deceased person’s thoughts or behaviors seems terrifying.
—ArsTechnica, 13 June 2025
Major financial institutions, once terrified of reputational blowback, are swiftly rolling out digital asset desks again.
—Nina Bambysheva, Forbes.com, 10 June 2025
For about 90% of those individuals, the illusions are terrifying.
—Kristen Rogers, CNN Money, 8 June 2025
See All Example Sentences for terrify
Recent Examples of Synonyms for terrify
Verb
-
The woman inside banged pots and pans and screamed at the bear to try to frighten it away, officials said.—
Don Sweeney,
Sacbee.com,
25 June 2025
-
Winston Churchill said the U-boat peril was the only thing that really frightened him during World War II.—
Carl Burdette,
Baltimore Sun,
22 June 2025
Verb
-
However, the stories about Porter from Cleveland and Houston may scare enough other teams that Milwaukee can keep him at that price. 7.—
John Hollinger,
New York Times,
17 June 2025
-
Without it, regulation-heavy environments like Spain (which recently introduced strict labeling laws for AI content) will scare away the next generation of founders. 3.—
Lutz Finger,
Forbes.com,
16 June 2025
Verb
-
Driver hit a pole after cicada startled them The crash happened around 1:48 p.m. on June 11 in Blue Ash, a suburb of Cincinnati, according to a crash report obtained by USA TODAY.—
Saleen Martin,
USA Today,
14 June 2025
-
At one point, before anyone could intervene, the baby startled my dog, and my dog reacted by biting him.—
Harriette Cole,
Mercury News,
13 June 2025
Cite this Entry
“Terrify.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/terrify. Accessed 3 Jul. 2025.
Copy CitationLove words? Need even more definitions?
Merriam-Webster unabridged
Share