terrorist

American  

[ter-er-ist] / ˈtɛr ər ɪst /

noun

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

• terroristic adjective

Etymology

Origin of terrorist

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

Example Sentences

Instability in Bangladesh would also affect the region’s largest economy, India, which has battled both Bangladesh-based terrorist groups and insurgents in India’s sensitive northeastern states.

From The Wall Street Journal

“The terrorist activity in West Africa—and Nigeria specifically—is something we’re incredibly concerned with,” a spokesperson for U.S.

From The Wall Street Journal

Those laws require data on Russian users to be stored inside the country, and for efforts to be made to stamp out their use for what Moscow calls "criminal and terrorist purposes".

From Barron's

“Glorifying and supporting terrorists who kill Americans is grounds for visa issuance to be terminated,” the department said.

From The Wall Street Journal

Immigration screening "has already become a little stricter, so that terrorists, and also industrial spies, cannot enter easily", Takaichi said Saturday.

From Barron's

Related Words

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