terrorize
Americanverb (used with object)
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to fill or overcome with terror.
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to dominate or coerce by intimidation.
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to produce widespread fear by acts of violence, as bombings.
verb
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to coerce or control by violence, fear, threats, etc
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to inspire with dread; terrify
Related Words
See frighten.
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of terrorize
Explanation
When you terrorize someone, you act in a way that makes that person feel terrified, or full of fear. A bully might terrorize his younger victims by threatening to beat them up. There are more and less serious ways to terrorize someone: actual terrorists, who use violence to achieve political goals, are a classic example of people who terrorize. A less grim way to terrorize might be an older sister coercing a younger brother into doing her chores by threatening to hide his favorite toys. In either case, the victim experiences some degree of fear, and the person who terrorizes feels a sense of power and control.
Vocabulary lists containing terrorize
"Diary of a Wimpy Kid" by Jeff Kinney
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"The Ransom of Red Chief" by O. Henry
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Schooled
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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.
Imagine that, this driven personality in a Clippers uniform, a less-reticent star beside Leonard — and a Thunder team that wasn’t built to absolutely terrorize the league for years to come.
From Los Angeles Times • May 8, 2026
They initially told him they were deporting him to his home country, which he thinks was done "to terrorize us."
From Barron's • Feb. 26, 2026
“They should not be anonymous. They should be identifiable. And they have to have rules of engagement that don’t allow them to terrorize and intimidate, harass and assault U.S. citizens and other people,” he said.
From Salon • Feb. 2, 2026
Though they have long since been extinct, tigers were once a feared presence on the Korean peninsula, at times coming down from the mountains to terrorize the populace.
From Los Angeles Times • Aug. 2, 2025
But they couldn’t terrorize Eric—because Eric was going to tell.
From "Our America: Life and Death on the South Side of Chicago" by LeAlan Jones
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.
