terrify
verb (terrify, terrifies, terrified, terrifying)
Everyday
- To terrify someone means to make them extremely frightened: "Thunder terrifies my dog." tree →
- "Terrified" (adjective) means very, very scared; "terrifying" means causing great fear. tree →
In the lessons
In stories the word makes fear strong and dramatic; it is a powerful choice instead of "scare". In everyday talk, children say they are "terrified of spiders" or "terrified of heights". In PSHE, it links to fears, phobias and how to cope. Phrases: "terrified of", "terrified to", "scared the life out of" (informal close phrase).
Examples
- Thunder terrifies our puppy. tree →
- I'm terrified of spiders. tree →
- The roller coaster was terrifying but fun. tree →
- The ghost story terrified my little brother. tree →
- She was terrified to speak in front of the whole school. tree →
- The loud bang terrified the horses. tree →
- Don't let the dark terrify you; it's the same room with the lights off. tree →
- The ogre thought to terrify his foe, but Watanabe never flinched. tree →
Note
Spelling: y changes to i: terrifies, terrified; but keeps y in "terrifying". Order of strength: scared, frightened, terrified. "Terrific" looks similar but now means "great".
In Jewish tradition
To fill with fear, whether by God's majesty or by enemies' threats.
Interpretation. Job's friend says God's majesty should make people fear. Tradition teaches that fear of God leads to wisdom.
Examples
- Shall not His majesty terrify you, and His dread fall upon you? (Writings JOB.13.11, JPS 1917) tree →
- Let darkness and the shadow of death claim it for their own; let a cloud dwell upon it; let all that maketh black the day terrify it. (Writings JOB.3.5, JPS 1917) tree →
- And they cried with a loud voice in the Jews' language unto the people of Jerusalem that were on the wall, to terrify them, and to affright them; that they might take the city. (Writings 2CH.32.18, JPS 1917) tree →
Note
Spelling: y changes to i: terrifies, terrified; but keeps y in "terrifying". Order of strength: scared, frightened, terrified. "Terrific" looks similar but now means "great".
On Mova
- Trees and pragmatics of «terrify» in the school dictionary: every meaning and example parsed by Mova, with its dependency tree and frames.
- «terrify» in the school dictionary on Mova free.
- Trees and pragmatics of «terrify» in the Judaism dictionary: every meaning and example parsed by Mova, with its dependency tree and frames.
- «terrify» in the Judaism dictionary on Mova free.
This page in Markdown → https://md.dictionary.elamur.ai/free/en/english/terrify/