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terrify

[ter-uh-fahy] / ˈtɛr əˌfaɪ /


Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

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I could potentially rent out the two other rooms for around $1,000 each to generate extra income, but loans terrify me.

From MarketWatch ● Jun. 24, 2026

Day 1 alone might terrify an L.A. commuter: From the Pacific to Pasadena by surface streets, including miles on Santa Monica and Colorado boulevards.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 6, 2026

The backrooms seem to exist in part to terrify entrants into redirecting their energies toward better life choices.

From The Wall Street Journal ● May 28, 2026

He told Salon that equating drug traffickers with terrorist is meant to “stigmatize and terrify people.”

From Salon ● Mar. 12, 2026

Katie did not mean to terrify the child.

From "A Tree Grows in Brooklyn" by Betty Smith

"It terrifies me, as a father of a young one myself, that people are out there claiming to be experts when they are not."

From BBC ● May 12, 2026

The Sublime, Edmund Burke wrote in 1757, terrifies in darkness, but when its effects are managed and ordered, we call them beauty.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Mar. 14, 2026

“You’re walking into a very, very conflictual relationship with the U.S.—and that terrifies me. But I’m not sure if there’s any way around it. Aren’t we actually already there?”

From Slate ● Feb. 13, 2026

So if I see a really big bridge, like the bridge in Long Beach, going over that terrifies me.

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 28, 2025

Mr. Benedict puts you at ease, but Mr. Curtain terrifies you.

From "The Mysterious Benedict Society" by Trenton Lee Stewart

I was terrified I would return to prison.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 2, 2026

Don’t miss: I’m terrified my sons will give their inheritance to my ex-husband.

From MarketWatch ● Sep. 21, 2026

AI’s creators go from speaking in euphemism to telling us how terrified they are.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 17, 2026

Dippold joked that she was terrified thinking that the show might get even more attention with all their Emmy wins.

From BBC ● Sep. 15, 2026

I was terrified and dying of curiosity at the same time, but I couldn’t just flee without finishing the job.

From "Flying Through Water" by Mamle Wolo

But “that’s a conversation nobody wants to have because falling prices are great for buyers and absolutely terrifying for people who bought at the top,” he said.

From MarketWatch ● Oct. 2, 2026

The warning from police was so terrifying, it was easy to overlook it also was implausible.

From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 1, 2026

The group pursuing McNulty was terrifying: Evenepoel, van der Poel, Seixas, del Toro, and others.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 28, 2026

"I've got quite a lot of anxiety about it, we talk about it quite a lot... it's terrifying," she said.

From BBC ● Sep. 20, 2026

She heard the whooping first, a terrifying sound echoing from all around her.

From "Beasts of Prey" by Ayana Gray




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