Terrorist

//ˈtɛɹəɹɪst// adj, noun

adj, noun ·Moderate ·High school level

Definitions

Noun
  1. 1
    A person, group, or organization that uses violent action, or the threat of violent action, to further political goals.

    "Hooooly shit! That is terrible, because (1), he is not a terrorist, and (2), I do hope we have a better strategy for dealing with terrorists than flagging their credit reports and denying them their dream apartments! Hey, not in America! Not in America!"

  2. 2
    a radical who employs terror as a political weapon; usually organizes with other terrorists in small cells; often uses religion as a cover for terrorist activities wordnet
  3. 3
    An agent or partisan of the revolutionary tribunal during the Reign of Terror in France. historical
Adjective
  1. 1
    Of or relating to terrorism. not-comparable

    "2002 January 29, George Walker Bush, "2002 State of the Union Address". States like these, and their terrorist allies, constitute an axis of evil, arming to threaten the peace of the world."

Example

More examples

"We will never give in to terrorist demands."

Etymology

From terror + -ist. In the historical sense, after French terroriste. First used in 1794 in the Courier and Evening Gazette.

Related phrases

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