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.
I walked away at 39 to have kids and my agent and my manager dropped me and it was really terrifying to also be a woman and turning 40, to have children at that time.
From Los Angeles Times • Jun. 2, 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 depicted a young boy wandering lost through the Backrooms' terrifying corridors.
From Barron's • May 28, 2026
"It's terrifying," said Tom Kimber, a 10th generation dairy farmer.
From BBC • May 27, 2026
Germany was a land in ruin, cities of ashes and rubble, but more terrifying still, minds and hearts of ashes.
From "The Hiding Place" by Corrie ten Boom
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.
