Meaning & use
Terrorize
Last updated
To fill someone with intense fear, often through repeated threats or violence, in order to intimidate or control them.
See it in a sentence
The gang terrorized the neighborhood for months before police finally intervened.
Bullies terrorized younger students in the schoolyard until a new principal cracked down.
A note on using this word
The word can describe both large-scale political violence, as in state terror, and everyday bullying or harassment on a much smaller scale.
Words with a similar meaning
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