intimidation
Americannoun
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the act of inducing fear or awe.
The true motive of most street harassment is intimidation.
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the act or process of attempting to force or deter an action by inducing fear.
She spoke passionately about the violence and intimidation suffered by African Americans in Mississippi seeking to register to vote.
Etymology
Origin of intimidation
Explanation
Intimidation is when you try to frighten a weaker person into doing what you want. You might use intimidation to get your brother to mow the lawn for you. Intimidation can refer to the act of making someone feel timid or afraid — like what you sometimes do to your brother — or it can also refer to that fearful feeling itself. Intimidation might make members of a jury hesitate to convict a defendant. Intimidation can also refer to feeling threatened, discouraged, or afraid because you're facing something stronger or superior. You might feel a sense of intimidation right before your soccer team plays the undefeated state champs.
Vocabulary lists containing intimidation
"The Hill We Climb," by Amanda Gorman
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Cesar Chavez's Commonwealth Club Address (1984)
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Because They Marched
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
Victims often decline or delay reporting the offense to police due to shame, intimidation or a fear of not being believed, she said.
From Los Angeles Times • May 29, 2026
Baqaei condemned the threat towards Oman, calling it "a worrying sign of the normalisation of anarchy and intimidation in international relations".
From Barron's • May 28, 2026
Whether Brian’s cousin is an attorney, local judge, the mayor of the town or the pope makes little difference here, except for exercising leverage with threats and intimidation.
From MarketWatch • May 28, 2026
On Monday, however, O’Connor struck back with a shocking order that used wildly inappropriate intimidation tactics to wrest back control of the case.
From Slate • May 19, 2026
Its most important feature, a ceremonial temple shaped in a Norte Chico-style U, was a masterpiece of architectural intimidation.
From "1491" by Charles C. Mann
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
