Synonyms for terrify
- verb
Most common
Definitions
- v. 1
To frighten greatly; to fill with terror.
Related words
- Word family
- terrible terrific terrifying terror terrorize
Forms
- Past participle
- terrified
e.g. terrified → frightened, scared, horrified, terrorized…
Choose the right word
To scare is to cause sudden, unnerving fear; to terrify is to awaken fear that is overwhelming.
J. C. Fernald, English Synonyms and Antonyms (1914)
Example sentences
- scare Don't worry, we're just going to give him a scare.
- intimidate They tried to intimidate Muslim students on the campus.
- frighten I doubt very seriously that that will frighten Tom.
- horrify The announcement was intended to horrify the audience.
Popularity over time
| Word | 1850 → 2019 | Trend |
|---|---|---|
| terrify | rising | |
| scare | rising | |
| intimidate | rising | |
| frighten | rising | |
| horrify | rising |
Use in printed books, per decade from 1850 to 2019.
By length
- 3 letters
- awe1
- 5 letters
- shock1, alarm2, scare1, daunt1, appal
- 6 letters
- dismay2, fright1, appall2
- 7 letters
- startle2, horrify3, petrify3
- 8 letters
- frighten2, astonish3, affright
- 9 letters
- terrorize3, terrorise
- 10 letters
- intimidate4
The small number after each word is its number of syllables (alarm2 = 2 syllables).
In other languages
- Français
- terrifier
- Italiano
- terrificare
- Català
- horroritzar