MEANING
To subject someone to intense fear, often through threats, violence, or repeated intimidation.
Use it for
Words that belong together
- terrorize a community
- terrorized witnesses
On the page
The unseen visitor terrorized the household without showing a face.
The witnesses said they had been terrorized into silence.
Nearby words
Related words
Word forms
- Base
- terrorize
- Past tense
- terrorized
- Past participle
- terrorized
- Present participle
- terrorizing
Full tense & aspect guide
- Present
- terrorize
- Present continuous
- am/is/are terrorizing
- Present perfect
- have/has terrorized
- Present perfect continuous
- have/has been terrorizing
- Past
- terrorized
- Past continuous
- was/were terrorizing
- Past perfect
- had terrorized
- Past perfect continuous
- had been terrorizing
- Future
- will terrorize
- Future continuous
- will be terrorizing
- Future perfect
- will have terrorized
- Future perfect continuous
- will have been terrorizing
Choose the auxiliary that agrees with your subject. These are constructions of one word, not separate entries.
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Usage notes
Primary category: horror. Forms: terrorize; terrorizes; terrorized; terrorized; terrorizing Legacy lexical fields mirror sense 1 only. Use numbered sense fields for all meanings. Third-person singular: terrorizes.
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