terror
[ter-er]
- intense, sharp, overmastering fear: to be frantic with terror.
- an instance or cause of intense fear or anxiety; quality of causing terror: to be a terror to evildoers.
- any period of frightful violence or bloodshed likened to the Reign of Terror in France.
- violence or threats of violence used for intimidation or coercion; terrorism.
- Informal. a person or thing that is especially annoying or unpleasant.
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Origin of terror
1325–75; < Latin, equivalent to terr(ēre) to frighten + -or -or1; replacing Middle English terrour < Anglo-French < Latin, as above
Synonyms
See more synonyms for terror on Thesaurus.com1. alarm, dismay, consternation. Terror, horror, panic, fright all imply extreme fear in the presence of danger or evil. Terror implies an intense fear that is somewhat prolonged and may refer to imagined or future dangers: frozen with terror. Horror implies a sense of shock at a danger that is also evil, and the danger may be to others rather than to oneself: to recoil in horror. Panic and fright both imply a sudden shock of fear. Fright is usually of short duration: a spasm of fright. Panic is uncontrolled and unreasoning fear, often groundless, that may be prolonged: The mob was in a panic.
Antonyms
1. calm.
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018
Examples from the Web for terror
Contemporary Examples
And that is an awful lot less bloody than what happened during the Reign of Terror.
The Sputnik shapes seem like a nod to Cold War surveillance morphing into Age of Terror surveillance.
Yet his liberal voice was too often silenced on War on Terror issues.
Eric Holder’s Legacy: Bold on Equality, Less So on Civil LibertiesGeoffrey R. Stone
September 26, 2014
Oddly enough, it was initially conceived as a weapon for the Global War on Terror.
World War II had its parades; Vietnam had its protests; and the War on Terror?
Historical Examples
Terror itself, and the mystery of the unknown, led to his living.
White FangJack London
These are the reflections of a man who wrote amid the Terror.
Shelley, Godwin and Their CircleH. N. Brailsford
Terror and anguish coursed furiously in her body unable to find an issue.
Therese RaquinEmile Zola
Terror had destroyed her mind; and it was a mercy, so charmed did she appear with the beauty of the morning.
The FloodEmile Zola
Only a few miles to the west the Erebus and Terror were lost.
terror
- great fear, panic, or dread
- a person or thing that inspires great dread
- informal a troublesome person or thing, esp a child
- terrorism
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Word Origin
C14: from Old French terreur, from Latin terror, from terrēre to frighten; related to Greek trein to run away in terror
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition
© William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
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Word Origin and History for terror
n.
late 14c., "great fear," from Old French terreur (14c.), from Latin terrorem (nominative terror) "great fear, dread," from terrere "fill with fear, frighten," from PIE root *tre- "shake" (see terrible). Meaning "quality of causing dread" is attested from 1520s; terror bombing first recorded 1941, with reference to German air attack on Rotterdam. Sense of "a person fancied as a source of terror" (often with deliberate exaggeration, as of a naughty child) is recorded from 1883. The Reign of Terror in French history (March 1793-July 1794) so called in English from 1801. Old English words for "terror" included broga and egesa.
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Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper
Idioms and Phrases with terror
terror
see holy terror.
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The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary
Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.