terrify

To terrify someone is to cause a great deal of fear. This word is stronger than the word "scare."

• The storm terrified everyone who lived through it. (The storm scared everyone very very much.)
• The man who lives down the street terrifies his neighbors. He’s scary and very mean.
• We were terrified to learn that an escaped convict was living in our neighborhood.
• Wanda is terrified by just the idea of speaking before a large group of people.
• The bank robber terrified everyone inside the bank when he pulled out a gun.

The words "terrified" and "terrifying" are adjectives:

• The terrified hostages were released by their captors.
• The explosions created a terrifying situation for all who were nearby.
• Maria was involved in a terrifying accident in which several people were killed.
• The deer was too terrified to get out of the way of an approaching truck.

The word "terrifyingly" is an adverb:

• The monsters in the movie looked terrifyingly real.
• It suddenly became terrifyingly evident that the young woman was going to lose both of her legs to the flesh-eating disease.

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October 27, 2013