terrifying

/ ˈtɛrɪˌfaɪɪŋ /

adjective

1. causing great fear or dread; extremely frightening

Other Word Forms

• terrifyingly adverb

Example Sentences

A mysterious infection that weakened its hosts’ immune systems was killing people at a terrifying rate, while the Reagan administration downplayed and openly joked about the disease.

Read more on Los Angeles Times

When she loses her cycle, she is forced to run up the helix of a parking garage at normal human speed, giving a pathetic comedic element to someone who ought to be terrifying.

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Skeletal replicas of the terrifying mosasaur, a Komodo Dragon relative with a six-foot jaw; the saber-toothed salmon; and other extinct species greet visitors in the museum’s entrance hall.

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As Laura, the foster mother in “Bring Her Back,” Ms. Hawkins turns the smile up to terrifying.

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Russian drone operators have turned daily life in Kherson into a terrifying gauntlet.

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Related Words

• alarming 
• awful 
• ghastly 
• grim 
• hideous 
• horrible 
• horrid 
• scary