terrorist

American  

[ter-er-ist] / ˈtɛr ər ɪst /

noun

terrorists plural

1. a person, usually a member of a group, who uses or advocates terrorism.

2. a person who terrorizes or frightens others.

3. (formerly) a member of a political group in Russia aiming at the demoralization of the government by terror.

4. an agent or partisan of the revolutionary tribunal during the Reign of Terror in France.

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adjective

1. of, relating to, or characteristic of terrorism or terrorists.

   terrorist tactics.

terrorist British  

/ ˈtɛrərɪst /

noun

1. 1. a person who employs terror or terrorism, esp as a political weapon

   2. ( as modifier )

      terrorist tactics

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Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• terroristic
  adjective

Inflected Forms

Nouns

• terrorists
  plural

Etymology

Origin of terrorist

First recorded in 1785–95; terror + -ist; compare French terroriste

Explanation

Someone who uses violence, mayhem, and destruction — or the threat of those things — to coerce people or countries into taking a certain action is a terrorist. A terrorist may be motivated by religious fervor, politics, or just plain old-fashioned greed. Terrorist has at its root the word "terror," which comes from the Latin word terrorem, meaning great fear. Great fear is exactly what terrorists hope to create so they can manipulate the situation to their benefit. The label terrorist is a subjective one. To the British, the American colonists who destroyed shiploads of tea in Boston Harbor in 1773 were terrorists. To colonists, they were patriots and heroes.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

terrorist terrorists

Matar's defense lawyers said he never acted on behalf of any terrorist organization, even if he was angry about the blasphemous nature of "The Satanic Verses."

From Barron's ● Jul. 23, 2026

That 2001 date marked the first day of trading for the New York Exchange and the Nasdaq after the terrorist attacks on Sept. 11 of that year.

From MarketWatch ● Jul. 23, 2026

As a terrorism scholar who spent a decade running the State Department office that designates terrorist organizations, I understand their confusion.

From Salon ● Jul. 23, 2026

But American, Israeli and Lebanese officials are finding there are no easy options to disarm a U.S.-designated terrorist group that is embedded in society and bound to its cause with religious zeal.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 21, 2026

What if the prosecutors, hoping to justify Zeitoun’s incarceration, tried to make a case against him—a connection, any distant connection, to some terrorist activity?

From "Zeitoun" by Dave Eggers

After the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, company leaders including Peter Thiel realized their technology could help the government sniff out terrorists.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 29, 2026

"As a result, Tren de Aragua terrorists no longer have safe haven in Venezuela or anywhere else," Trump wrote on his Truth Social platform Friday night.

From Barron's ● Jun. 13, 2026

Wells’ classic story was one of the first mainstream studio films to riff on America’s post-9/11 anxiety, where characters assumed the widespread panic was the work of terrorists.

From Salon ● Jun. 13, 2026

The expulsion of Artan after an 11-hour interrogation at Miami International Airport had come just hours earlier, accused by a US official of having links to terrorists in his homeland.

From BBC ● Jun. 10, 2026

Tell him, if he’s not busy hunting down terrorists right now, I’d appreciate him taking care of whoever’s sending strange letters to thirteen-year-old boys.

From "Found" by Margaret Peterson Haddix

Related Words

• assassin
• bomber
• fanatic
• guerrilla
• gunman
• hijacker
• insurgent
• radical
• rebel
• revolutionary
• sniper
• zealot