terrify
Americanverb (used with object)
-
terrifies,
present (3rd person singular)
-
terrified,
past participle, past
-
terrifying
present participle
verb
Synonym Usage
See frighten.
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
-
terrifysimple
-
terrifiessimple
-
have terrifiedperfect
-
has terrifiedperfect
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am terrifyingprogressive
-
are terrifyingprogressive
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is terrifyingprogressive
-
have been terrifyingperfect progressive
-
has been terrifyingperfect progressive
Past
-
terrifiedsimple
-
had terrifiedperfect
-
was terrifyingprogressive
-
were terrifyingprogressive
-
had been terrifyingperfect progressive
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.
See Examples For:
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
"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
Here’s the part that should terrify everyone buying “AI-powered trading systems” in 2025: Even now, with every firm on Wall Street running the same technology, Medallion still beats them.
From MarketWatch ● Nov. 15, 2025
“I’ve come to view Jesus the way I’ve come to view Elvis. I love the guy, but some of the fan clubs terrify me.”
From Salon ● Sep. 19, 2025
What began to trouble Madison, then terrify him, was not Hamilton’s goal—the recovery of public credit—but the way he proposed to reach it.
From "Founding Brothers: The Revolutionary Generation" by Joseph J. Ellis
"It terrifies me, as a father of a young one myself, that people are out there claiming to be experts when they are not."
From BBC ● May 12, 2026
The Sublime, Edmund Burke wrote in 1757, terrifies in darkness, but when its effects are managed and ordered, we call them beauty.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Mar. 14, 2026
“You’re walking into a very, very conflictual relationship with the U.S.—and that terrifies me. But I’m not sure if there’s any way around it. Aren’t we actually already there?”
From Slate ● Feb. 13, 2026
So if I see a really big bridge, like the bridge in Long Beach, going over that terrifies me.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 28, 2025
It is the kind of material that grips high school actors and audiences but terrifies school administrations.
From "Drama High" by Michael Sokolove
Despite feeling "absolutely terrified" during the event's inaugural mixed 4x100m relay, Asher-Smith, world 200m champion in 2019, leaves Birmingham a 22-time international medallist in her senior career.
From BBC ● Aug. 16, 2026
For more than a decade it has been a frontline, the first Greek soil that exhausted, terrified people touch when they cross from Turkey in boats that were never built for open water.
From Salon ● Aug. 5, 2026
And the rest of baseball should probably be terrified.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 31, 2026
As the flames advanced, she was terrified that her "whole life" would go up in smoke.
From Barron's ● Jul. 25, 2026
Dad’s not scared of anything, so if he’s terrified, I should be planning my funeral.
From "The Manifestor Prophecy" by Angie Thomas
Outside the centre, Yana Ludwig, who was travelling alone on the train from London to Lewes, said the experience as "completely terrifying".
From BBC ● Aug. 13, 2026
The effects of a terrifying or life-threatening experience can continue long after the immediate danger has passed.
From Science Daily ● Aug. 6, 2026
From Lexington, he is sent to his most terrifying prison yet, known as Bloody Beaumont, where COVID-19 adds another layer of threat.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 3, 2026
Next, the Laestrygonians are clearly classical precursors of Norway’s Viking heirs, terrifying giants who, despite knocking out most of the Achaean team, are unable to secure victory.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 27, 2026
The fury of the ice river broke upon them with terrifying force.
From "Wolf Brother" by Michelle Paver
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.
