terrify

  • 1Terrify — Ter ri*fy, v. t. [imp. & p. p. {Terrified}; p. pr. & vb. n. {Terrifying}.] [L. terrere to frighten + fy: cf. F. terrifier, L. terrificare. See {Terrific}, and { fy}.] 1. To make terrible. [Obs.] [1913 Webster] If the law, instead of aggravating… …

    The Collaborative International Dictionary of English

  • 2terrify — index endanger, frighten, intimidate, menace Burton s Legal Thesaurus. William C. Burton. 2006 …

    Law dictionary

  • 3terrify — 1570s, from L. terrificare to frighten, from terrificus causing terror (see TERRIFIC (Cf. terrific)) …

    Etymology dictionary

  • 4terrify — *frighten, fright, scare, alarm, terrorize, startle Analogous words: agitate, upset, perturb, disquiet (see DISCOMPOSE): *dismay, appall, horrify, daunt: cow, *intimidate, browbeat, bulldoze Contrasted words: *calm, compose, soothe, tranquilize …

    New Dictionary of Synonyms

  • 5terrify — [v] scare alarm, appall, awe, chill, dismay, freeze, fright, frighten, horrify, intimidate, paralyze, petrify, scare stiff*, scare the pants off of*, scare to death*, shock, spook, startle, strike fear into*, stun, stupefy, terrorize; concepts… …

    New thesaurus

  • 6terrify — ► VERB (terrifies, terrified) ▪ cause to feel terror. DERIVATIVES terrifying adjective …

    English terms dictionary

  • 7terrify — [ter′ə fī΄] vt. terrified, terrifying [L terrificare < terrificus,TERRIFIC] to fill with terror; frighten greatly; alarm SYN. AFRAID, FRIGHTEN terrifyingly adv …

    English World dictionary

  • 8terrify */ — UK [ˈterəfaɪ] / US [ˈterəˌfaɪ] verb [transitive] Word forms terrify : present tense I/you/we/they terrify he/she/it terrifies present participle terrifying past tense terrified past participle terrified to make someone very frightened The bombing …

    English dictionary

  • 9terrify — transitive verb ( fied; fying) Etymology: Latin terrificare, from terrificus Date: 15th century 1. a. to drive or impel by menacing ; scare b. deter, intimidate 2. to fill with terror …

    New Collegiate Dictionary

  • 10terrify — terrifier, n. terrifyingly, adv. /ter euh fuy /, v.t., terrified, terrifying. to fill with terror or alarm; make greatly afraid. [1565 75; < L terrificare, equiv. to terr(ere) to frighten + ificare IFY] Syn. See frighten. * * * …

    Universalium