terrify
Americanverb (used with object)
-
terrifies,
present (3rd person singular)
-
terrified,
past participle, past
-
terrifying
present participle
verb
Synonym Usage
See frighten.
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
-
terrifysimple
-
terrifiessimple
-
have terrifiedperfect
-
has terrifiedperfect
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am terrifyingprogressive
-
are terrifyingprogressive
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is terrifyingprogressive
-
have been terrifyingperfect progressive
-
has been terrifyingperfect progressive
Past
-
terrifiedsimple
-
had terrifiedperfect
-
was terrifyingprogressive
-
were terrifyingprogressive
-
had been terrifyingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of terrify
1565–75; < Latin terrificāre, equivalent to terr ( ēre ) to frighten + -ificāre -ify
Explanation
If you terrify someone, that person is enormously frightened of you. The verb terrify is closely related to the word terror, and its Latin root is terrificus, "causing terror." While some people might say that monsters terrify them, others are terrified by heights, snakes, or speaking in public. If there's something that makes you feel a deep, horrible sense of fear, it terrifies you.
Vocabulary lists containing terrify
"The Gift of the Magi" by O. Henry
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"In the Spotlight," Vocabulary from the informational text
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The House of Hades
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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.
See Examples For:
I could potentially rent out the two other rooms for around $1,000 each to generate extra income, but loans terrify me.
From MarketWatch ● Jun. 24, 2026
The backrooms seem to exist in part to terrify entrants into redirecting their energies toward better life choices.
From The Wall Street Journal ● May 28, 2026
He told Salon that equating drug traffickers with terrorist is meant to “stigmatize and terrify people.”
From Salon ● Mar. 12, 2026
Ahead of a rare new showing on the BBC, here’s a look at how the drama still has the potential to terrify people.
From BBC ● Oct. 8, 2024
Questions from South Korean bank tellers, whom they meet on field trips to open bank accounts, often terrify defectors.
From "Escape from Camp 14: One Man's Remarkable Odyssey from North Korea to Freedom in the West" by Blaine Harden
“You’re walking into a very, very conflictual relationship with the U.S.—and that terrifies me. But I’m not sure if there’s any way around it. Aren’t we actually already there?”
From Slate ● Feb. 13, 2026
“As both a gun owner and an American citizen, this terrifies me.”
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jan. 26, 2026
“I can’t even think about my life tonight. The drive home scares me. Coming to campus scares me. Walking from my car terrifies me. I live my life between breaths.”
From Los Angeles Times ● Dec. 11, 2025
"It absolutely terrifies me playing Wales in the last game and trying to get points because it will be such a hard game," White said.
From BBC ● Jul. 5, 2025
“I can smell him from here. He terrifies me.”
From "Watership Down: A Novel" by Richard Adams
He looks terrified on the sideline of every game, calling atrocious plays, and thinking the only way to win is for Matt Stafford to pass for 700-plus yards.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 24, 2026
She was terrified that attention would focus on her appearance rather than her evidence.
From BBC ● Oct. 23, 2026
In the title song, he provides a deceptively sweet melody but sings with a voice-cracking rasp, “I’ve fallen out of grace . . . / The sea has no mercy and I’m terrified of waves.”
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 21, 2026
A patient arrived at a Denver emergency room one night terrified that he was having a heart attack.
From Slate ● Oct. 16, 2026
The last thing he saw before he fell into the water was the terrified look on Dad’s face.
From "I Survived Hurricane Katrina, 2005" by Lauren Tarshis
He described the experience as “daunting, terrifying, humbling, nerve-racking” and admitted to feeling undeserving.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 21, 2026
In a statement on X, the RNC said: "Today, his family is grieving, his voice is gone, and Rwandans in exile are confronting a terrifying question: where can we be safe?"
From BBC ● Oct. 19, 2026
Those early months of 2025 were undeniably terrifying and inordinately destructive, but they were also ridiculous.
From Salon ● Oct. 19, 2026
Katja Hoyer’s “Weimar” is a powerful and detailed reconstruction of a “stark and terrifying example of a collapsed democracy” and how that collapse consumed the conscience of a particular city.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 16, 2026
Even for men accustomed to a hard life in a terrifying ocean, they could hardly believe what Shackleton and his men had endured.
From "Shipwreck at the Bottom of the World" by Jennifer Armstrong
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Get a wordDefinitions 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.
