terrifying
Britishadjective
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Explanation
If something is terrifying, it makes you feel extremely afraid. Even if your little sister loves the scary roller coaster at the amusement park, you might still find it terrifying. Some people feel mildly alarmed when they see a small spider — if you have a phobia about spiders, discovering one in your bathtub is truly terrifying. This alarming adjective comes from the Latin root terrificus ("causing terror"), which it shares with terrific, a word whose meaning was originally just as scary.
Vocabulary lists containing terrifying
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 best horror villains are not only terrifying but complicated, their destructive persona hiding a far more vulnerable being underneath.
From Los Angeles Times • Jun. 1, 2026
And when my thoughts go idle, they drift to new happy memories that I’ve made all myself: A rainbow over a mountain range after a terrifying hail storm in Texas.
From Salon • Jun. 1, 2026
“It is scary and terrifying, because it makes you remember the 15 years of the occupation of the border villages and makes you worry more about the next phase” he said.
From The Wall Street Journal • May 31, 2026
"It was really very terrifying," says Costel Patrichi, a resident who's in charge of the building.
From BBC • May 30, 2026
The idea that such a thing could happen in America was terrifying.
From "In the Shadow of Liberty" by Kenneth C. Davis
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.
