Terrify

//ˈtɛɹɪfaɪ// verb

verb ·Uncommon ·Advanced level

Definitions

Verb
  1. 1
    To frighten greatly; to fill with terror.
  2. 2
    fill with terror; frighten greatly wordnet
  3. 3
    To menace or intimidate.

    "Your men are valiant but their number few, And cannot terrifie his mightie hoſt, […]"

  4. 4
    To make terrible. obsolete

Synonyms

All synonyms
affrightfrightenscarestartledismayaffray

Example

More examples

"All national institutions of churches, whether Jewish, Christian, or Turkish, appear to me no other than human inventions set up to terrify and enslave mankind, and monopolize power and profit."

Etymology

From Middle French terrifier, from Latin terrificare.

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Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.