terrify
Americanverb (used with object)
verb
Synonym Usage
See frighten.
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Conjugated Forms
Present
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have terrifiedperfect
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has terrifiedperfect 3rd person singular
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am terrifyingprogressive 1st person singular
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are terrifyingprogressive
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is terrifyingprogressive 3rd person singular
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has been terrifyingperfect progressive 3rd person singular
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have been terrifyingperfect progressive
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terrifiessingular 3rd person
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terrifyingparticiple
Past
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had terrifiedperfect
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were terrifyingprogressive plural
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had been terrifyingperfect progressive
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was terrifyingprogressive singular
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terrifiedparticiple
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terrifiedsimple
Future
Etymology
Origin of terrify
1565–75; < Latin terrificāre, equivalent to terr ( ēre ) to frighten + -ificāre -ify
Explanation
If you terrify someone, that person is enormously frightened of you. The verb terrify is closely related to the word terror, and its Latin root is terrificus, "causing terror." While some people might say that monsters terrify them, others are terrified by heights, snakes, or speaking in public. If there's something that makes you feel a deep, horrible sense of fear, it terrifies you.
Vocabulary lists containing terrify
"The Gift of the Magi" by O. Henry
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"In the Spotlight," Vocabulary from the informational text
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The House of Hades
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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.
The backrooms seem to exist in part to terrify entrants into redirecting their energies toward better life choices.
From The Wall Street Journal • May 28, 2026
He told Salon that equating drug traffickers with terrorist is meant to “stigmatize and terrify people.”
From Salon • Mar. 12, 2026
"Either to terrify the residents and force them to move," he said, "or to put pressure on the Lebanese army to confront people."
From BBC • Nov. 27, 2025
It seems to me that the math behind the analysis was designed to terrify, not inform.
From MarketWatch • Oct. 30, 2025
His voice was lonely in the heat, trying to terrify the dust and the blazing sun sky.
From "The Martian Chronicles" by Ray Bradbury
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.
