terrify
Americanverb (used with object)
verb
Related Words
See frighten.
Other Word Forms
- terrifier noun
- terrifyingly adverb
- unterrified adjective
- unterrifying adjective
Etymology
Origin of terrify
1565–75; < Latin terrificāre, equivalent to terr ( ēre ) to frighten + -ificāre -ify
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.
There were several champagne bottles in the room, I suppose for the refreshment of Morton—and as I entered the room a cork popped with a dreadful noise, and I made for the door terrified.
From Literature
If your mouth opens wide during any of the supposedly terrifying interludes, it’s more likely to form a yawn than a cry.
Bellowing "Silence, everyone!" to terrified parliamentarians, the man with a bushy moustache and shiny tricorn quickly caught the public's attention in an image engraved on the nation's collective memory.
From Barron's
They were off, heading down the terrifyingly steep incline, picking up speed with each passing second.
From Literature
He was terrifyingly ugly and smelled even worse.
From Literature
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.
