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
Synonym Usage
See frighten.
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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terrorizesimple
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terrorizessimple
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have terrorizedperfect
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has terrorizedperfect
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am terrorizingprogressive
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are terrorizingprogressive
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is terrorizingprogressive
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have been terrorizingperfect progressive
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has been terrorizingperfect progressive
Past
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terrorizedsimple
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had terrorizedperfect
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was terrorizingprogressive
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were terrorizingprogressive
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had been terrorizingperfect progressive
Future
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.
The US president thanked the Nigerian government for their "partnership", adding that Minuki "will no longer terrorize the people of Africa or help plan operations to target Americans".
From BBC • May 16, 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
The mysterious case of a chain-saw-wielding vandal who appeared to randomly terrorize trees in and around downtown Los Angeles last year has come to an anticlimactic close.
From Los Angeles Times • Feb. 11, 2026
“This is part of the effort to terrorize those who were not born in the United States and instill fear in immigrant communities and mixed-status families,” Mukherjee said.
From Slate • Jul. 4, 2025
It continued to terrorize numerous cities, especially in Central and South America.
From "An American Plague: The True and Terrifying Story of the Yellow Fever Epidemic of 1793" by Jim Murphy
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.
