terrifying
Britishadjective
Other Word Forms
Explanation
If something is terrifying, it makes you feel extremely afraid. Even if your little sister loves the scary roller coaster at the amusement park, you might still find it terrifying. Some people feel mildly alarmed when they see a small spider — if you have a phobia about spiders, discovering one in your bathtub is truly terrifying. This alarming adjective comes from the Latin root terrificus ("causing terror"), which it shares with terrific, a word whose meaning was originally just as scary.
Vocabulary lists containing terrifying
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.
In the span of two weeks, the Brewers have faced Tarik Skubal, Yoshinobu Yamamoto, Blake Snell and Rasmussen, a terrifying gauntlet.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 25, 2026
Those early months of 2025 were undeniably terrifying and inordinately destructive, but they were also ridiculous.
From Salon ● Oct. 19, 2026
Gretchen Palek, head of alternative at Blumhouse Television, attributes the show’s success to the careful and sensitive approach to telling these terrifying experiences while highlighting real-life universal anxieties.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 15, 2026
A super El Nino fuelling record ocean temperatures poses a "terrifying" threat to the world's fragile coral reefs, the chair of the UN's expert nature panel told AFP.
From Barron's ● Oct. 15, 2026
His narrowed eyes were the unremarkable color of wet hay, and even though he was a scrawny, hunched little man, he was still terrifying somehow.
From Anya and the Dragon by Sofiya Pasternack
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Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
