intimidate
to make timid; fill with fear.
to overawe or cow, as through the force of personality or by superior display of wealth, talent, etc.
to force into or deter from some action by inducing fear: to intimidate a voter into staying away from the polls.
Origin of intimidate
1synonym study For intimidate
Other words for intimidate
Opposites for intimidate
Other words from intimidate
- in·tim·i·da·tion [in-tim-i-dey-shuhn] /ɪnˌtɪm ɪˈdeɪ ʃən/ noun
- in·tim·i·da·tor, noun
- in·tim·i·da·to·ry [in-tim-i-duh-tawr-ee], /ɪnˈtɪm ɪ dəˌtɔr i/, adjective
Words that may be confused with intimidate
- intimate, intimidate
Words Nearby intimidate
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024
How to use intimidate in a sentence
They said in an interview that guards and inmates had been making intimidating comments to her following her accusations and that she felt unsafe.
ICE Deported a Woman Who Accused Guards of Sexual Assault While the Feds Were Still Investigating the Incident | by Lomi Kriel | September 15, 2020 | ProPublicaIn the past six months, Eknelygoda’s wife, Sandya, said she believed witnesses in the case were being intimidated, and threats to her and surveillance of her family had increased.
These 10 journalists are missing, and COVID is impeding investigations | lbelanger225 | September 1, 2020 | FortuneKeep immigrants feeling unwelcome, keep them afraid, keep them intimidated, and keep them away from knowing and asserting their rights, including their right to vote.
New U.S. Citizens Were One Of The Fastest-Growing Voting Blocs. But Not This Year. | Eileen Guo | August 31, 2020 | FiveThirtyEightCops, for instance, couldn’t intimidate a witness, lie in the course of an investigation or participate in a law enforcement gang with “a pattern of rogue on-duty behavior.”
Sacramento Report: Jones, COVID-19 and the Irony of Remote Voting | Sara Libby and Jesse Marx | August 28, 2020 | Voice of San DiegoThey are easily intimidated and remain silent for fear of retaliation, fear of losing their jobs, fear that nobody will listen or believe them.
Temp Workers Fight Back Against Alleged Sexual Harassment and Say They Face Retaliation for Doing So | by Melissa Sanchez | August 28, 2020 | ProPublica
And nowadays, politicians and CEOs frequently employ the color to command respect and intimidate.
When ISIS beheaded an American journalist, it meant to intimidate—and provoke—the United States.
One pilot friend in Zwara pointed out that just “two Apaches,” attack helicopters, would intimidate the militias into a ceasefire.
It’s Not the USA that Made Libya the Disaster it is Today | Ann Marlowe | August 3, 2014 | THE DAILY BEASTOn Sunday, Iroquois defenders used them to intimidate and pummel Canadians in a second-half surge.
A Millennium After Inventing the Game, the Iroquois Are Lacrosse’s New Superpower | Evin Demirel | July 21, 2014 | THE DAILY BEASTYou know, you had a government using its tools to intimidate the population.
On one occasion a noted professional duellist thought that he could intimidate him.
Napoleon's Marshals | R. P. Dunn-PattisonWere these figures going to the enemy Chief they might intimidate him—coming here they alarm me.
Gallipoli Diary, Volume 2 | Ian HamiltonTo intimidate them, Dunmore issued proclamations, and threatened freeing the slaves against their masters.
The Loyalists of America and Their Times, Vol. 1 of 2 | Egerton RyersonShe had a faint hope that the room might intimidate this Western girl, but instead of intimidation there was exultation.
The Butterfly House | Mary E. Wilkins FreemanThey were trying to intimidate him—to make him flinch; each was urging the other on to some immediate act of personal violence.
North and South | Elizabeth Cleghorn Gaskell
British Dictionary definitions for intimidate
/ (ɪnˈtɪmɪˌdeɪt) /
to make timid or frightened; scare
to discourage, restrain, or silence illegally or unscrupulously, as by threats or blackmail
Origin of intimidate
1Derived forms of intimidate
- intimidating, adjective
- intimidation, noun
- intimidator, noun
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
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