terrify

terrify — verb

1. to cause someone to feel extreme fear or sudden terror, often leaving them unabl

1.verbtransitiveB1
Definition

to cause someone to feel extreme fear or sudden terror, often leaving them unable to think clearly or act normally.

Example

The sudden crash of thunder terrified the little girl, and she ran to her mother.

passive: terrified by [sudden event]

Bao was terrified by the idea of giving a speech to five hundred people.

terrified by + noun phrase / gerund

Common collocations
  • terrify someone
  • be terrified by something
  • be terrified of something
  • terrify someone into doing something
  • absolutely terrified
  • utterly terrified
Synonyms
  • frighten

    more general and less intense; the usual neutral alternative

  • scare

    more informal than terrify; can describe mild or sudden fear

  • petrify

    suggests fear so extreme that a person cannot move or speak

  • horrify

    combines fear with shock, disgust, or moral outrage

Antonyms
  • reassure

    to make someone feel less worried or afraid

  • calm

    to make someone stop feeling afraid or anxious

Grammar Patterns

terrify + noun/pronoun

be terrified by/of + noun/gerund

terrify + object + into + gerund

Usage Note

Frequently used in the passive voice (be terrified by/of). The pattern 'terrify [someone] into [doing something]' describes coercion achieved through extreme fear — e.g., 'The armed men terrified the villagers into handing over their money.'

Common Mistakes

The horror movie was very terrified.
The horror movie was very terrifying.
Use the -ing form (terrifying) for the thing that causes fear; the -ed form (terrified) describes the person who feels the fear.
The loud noise terrified me and I was scary.
The loud noise terrified me and I was scared.
'Scary' describes something that causes fear, not the feeling itself.

Word family

Synonym discussion

Sense: verb/1

All four words describe causing fear, but they differ in intensity and nuance. Frighten is the most general, neutral word — you can frighten someone with a surprise or a warning. Scare is more informal and often suggests a sudden, short-lived fear, like a loud noise. Petrify is the strongest: it means fear so intense that a person freezes or cannot move. Horrify mixes fear with shock or disgust — for example, a violent crime horrifies people, while a spider might only scare them. Use terrify when the fear is deep and lasting: 'The thought of the exam terrified her' suggests real dread, not just a moment of surprise.

frighten ↗scare ↗petrifyhorrify ↗

Common collocations

Nouns

  • thought terrifies
  • idea terrifies
  • prospect terrifies
  • experience terrifies
  • violence terrifies

Adverbs

  • absolutely terrified
  • utterly terrified
  • truly terrified
  • completely terrified

Phrases

  • terrify someone into submission
  • terrify someone into silence
  • terrified out of one's wits

Prepositions

  • terrified of
  • terrified by
  • terrify into

Etymology

LatinFrenchEnglish

Terrify comes from the Latin word 'terrificare' (to frighten), which is formed from 'terror' (great fear) and '-ficare' (to make). It entered English in the late 1500s through French ('terrifier'). The related noun 'terror' had already been in English for about 200 years.