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
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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:
I could potentially rent out the two other rooms for around $1,000 each to generate extra income, but loans terrify me.
From MarketWatch ● Jun. 24, 2026
Day 1 alone might terrify an L.A. commuter: From the Pacific to Pasadena by surface streets, including miles on Santa Monica and Colorado boulevards.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 6, 2026
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
Maggie revealed that she and Kate had been mischievous girls who “wanted to terrify our mother.”
From "American Spirits" by Barb Rosenstock
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
It helps to build a more rounded profile of Hitler, a person who still fascinates and terrifies in equal measure.
From BBC ● Nov. 14, 2025
The thought of being forced by immigration agents to return to Mexico terrifies Vargas.
From Los Angeles Times ● May 27, 2025
It is the kind of material that grips high school actors and audiences but terrifies school administrations.
From "Drama High" by Michael Sokolove
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
"Before the programme we were terrified," she says.
From BBC ● Jul. 19, 2026
Jonah shot her a resentful glance, but she looked even worse than he felt: she was deathly pale, and her eyes were huge and round, as if she’d just been terrified out of her wits.
From "Found" by Margaret Peterson Haddix
The effects of a terrifying or life-threatening experience can continue long after the immediate danger has passed.
From Science Daily ● Aug. 6, 2026
Kelly said hearing the diagnosis was "terrifying", adding: "You know something is wrong, but you never expect it to be that."
From BBC ● Jul. 28, 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
Once a fatal and terrifying diagnosis, scientific breakthroughs and massive funding efforts have transformed HIV into a manageable disease for millions of people.
From Barron's ● Jul. 27, 2026
Fanny screamed in an endless howling, terrifying wail that woke her brother Augustus, who was sleeping in a room nearby.
From "Chasing Lincoln's Killer" by James L. Swanson
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.
