as in demons
a source of persistent emotional distress
after the death of her father, fear of developing cancer became one of the terrors of her life
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Recent Examples of terrors
What could be worse than these twin terrors?
—
Voice Of The People, New York Daily News, 8 Feb. 2026
Almost every one of Arsenal’s title-winning seasons in living memory has had a moment where the terrors set in.
—Amy Lawrence, New York Times, 27 Jan. 2026
The lustrous surfaces hide moral horrors, silence emotional terrors, and block out the filth beyond their boundaries.
—Richard Brody, New Yorker, 17 Jan. 2026
What better way to avoid the terrors of Dry January than by sneaking yourself into the cozy snug of The Pub, a compendium of Britain’s quintessential third space.
—Air Mail, 3 Jan. 2026
At scale, migrants and their descendants recreate the conditions and terrors of their broken homelands.
—CBS News, 7 Dec. 2025
That’s one of the many emerging terrors of our brave new funhouse-mirror dystopia of e-scams, cat-phishing, and democracy-destroying propaganda.
—New Atlas, 15 Nov. 2025
If scientists can detect these signatures early, extreme waves may change from unpredictable terrors into forecastable hazards.
—Avery Schuyler Nunn, Scientific American, 13 Nov. 2025
As with many of A24's horror movies, we're left to ponder whether anything supernatural happens as Maud's quest reaches its apotheosis, proving that fanatical belief is enough to inspire great terrors.
—Dennis Perkins, Entertainment Weekly, 31 Oct. 2025
Voice Of The People, New York Daily News, 8 Feb. 2026
Almost every one of Arsenal’s title-winning seasons in living memory has had a moment where the terrors set in.
—Amy Lawrence, New York Times, 27 Jan. 2026
The lustrous surfaces hide moral horrors, silence emotional terrors, and block out the filth beyond their boundaries.
—Richard Brody, New Yorker, 17 Jan. 2026
What better way to avoid the terrors of Dry January than by sneaking yourself into the cozy snug of The Pub, a compendium of Britain’s quintessential third space.
—Air Mail, 3 Jan. 2026
At scale, migrants and their descendants recreate the conditions and terrors of their broken homelands.
—CBS News, 7 Dec. 2025
That’s one of the many emerging terrors of our brave new funhouse-mirror dystopia of e-scams, cat-phishing, and democracy-destroying propaganda.
—New Atlas, 15 Nov. 2025
If scientists can detect these signatures early, extreme waves may change from unpredictable terrors into forecastable hazards.
—Avery Schuyler Nunn, Scientific American, 13 Nov. 2025
As with many of A24's horror movies, we're left to ponder whether anything supernatural happens as Maud's quest reaches its apotheosis, proving that fanatical belief is enough to inspire great terrors.
—Dennis Perkins, Entertainment Weekly, 31 Oct. 2025
Recent Examples of Synonyms for terrors
Noun
-
Are Hellebuyck’s playoff demons slain, then?—
Murat Ates,
New York Times,
26 Feb. 2026
-
Ash vs Evil Dead (2015–2018) Bruce Campbell returns to the role he was born to play in this comedy-horror series 30 years after vanquishing body-possessing demons in The Evil Dead (1981), Evil Dead II (1987), and Army of Darkness (1992).—
Kevin Jacobsen,
Entertainment Weekly,
25 Feb. 2026
Noun
-
In that final part of the cycle—the writing part—were torments, perhaps even tortures, but good things happened.—
Jake Lundberg,
The Atlantic,
19 Feb. 2026
-
As a poet, publisher, and public intellectual, Ferlinghetti spent the rest of his career resisting the very torments Judge Horn said haunted the post-war world.—
Gioia Woods,
Literary Hub,
6 Feb. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Terrors.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/terrors. Accessed 5 Mar. 2026.
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