Meaning & use
intimidation
Last updated
Meanings
noununcountable
The act of scaring someone with threats or pressure so that they will do what you want.
Grammar: Not used in the plural: witness intimidation.
Patterns
- intimidation of someone
- intimidation by someone
Witness intimidation is a serious crime.
The workers complained of bullying and intimidation.
He used intimidation to keep rivals out of the market.
noununcountable
The feeling of being frightened or overawed by someone or something powerful.
Grammar: Describes the feeling rather than the act.
Patterns
- a sense of intimidation
She felt a sense of intimidation walking into the huge hall.
Many new students feel intimidation on their first day.
The mountain's size filled him with intimidation.
Common combinations
- witness intimidation
- Prosecutors charged him with witness intimidation.
- campaign of intimidation
- The group ran a campaign of intimidation against local shops.
- threats and intimidation
- Voters reported threats and intimidation.
- subject to intimidation
- Reporters were subject to intimidation.
- fear and intimidation
- The regime ruled through fear and intimidation.
Synonyms and how they differ
- bullying
- Bullying means repeated unkind treatment of a weaker person, while intimidation focuses on frightening someone into compliance.
- threats
- Threats are specific statements of harm, and intimidation is the broader pressure created by them.
- coercion
- Coercion is forcing someone to act, often with legal overtones, and intimidation is one method of it.
- harassment
- Harassment is persistent annoyance or pressure and need not involve fear of harm.
Opposites
Word family
- intimidate verb
- to frighten someone to make them obey
- intimidating adjective
- making you feel scared or nervous
- intimidated adjective
- feeling scared or nervous
- intimidator noun
- a person who intimidates
Commonly confused: intimidation or intimacy?
intimidation vs intimacy
Intimacy means closeness between people and has no link to fear, despite sounding similar.
Practice
The gang used threats and ___ to stop the shopkeepers from reporting them.
Choose one answer.
Intimidation is frightening people into obeying. Intimacy is a similar-sounding word meaning closeness, which would not describe a crime.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “intimidation”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.