terror[noun]Synonyms:- fear, alarm, anxiety, dread, fright, horror, panic, shock
- scourge, bogeyman, bugbear, devil, fiend, monster
Related Words: awe,
fearfulness
English Thesaurus: fear, terror, fright, panic, alarm, ... [TahlilGaran] English Synonym Dictionary ▲
ter‧ror W3 /ˈterə $ -ər/
noun[
Date: 1300-1400;
Language: Old French;
Origin: terreur, from Latin terror, from terrere; ⇒ terrible]
1. FEAR [uncountable] a feeling of extreme fear
in terror
People fled in terror as fire tore through the building. Shots rang out, and I screamed in terror. We lived in terror of our father when he was drinking. There was a look of sheer terror (=complete terror) on his face.strike terror into somebody/sb’s heart The sound of enemy planes struck terror into our hearts.2. FRIGHTENING SITUATION [countable] an event or situation that makes people feel extremely frightened, especially because they think they may die
terror of the terrors of war Death holds no terrors for (=does not frighten) me.3. VIOLENT ACTION [uncountable] violent action for political purposes
Synonym : terrorism:
The resistance movement started a campaign of terror. The Red Army Faction tried to undermine the state by terror tactics. Pol Pot’s reign of terror in Cambodia4. PERSON [countable] informal a child who is difficult to control:
That Johnson kid’s a real little terror! ⇒
reign of terror at
reign1(4), ⇒
a holy terror at
holy(4)
[TahlilGaran] Dictionary of Contemporary English ▲
fear a feeling of being frightened:
He was trembling with fear. Fear of failure should not stop you trying.terror a feeling of great fear, because you think that something terrible is about to happen:
She let out a scream of pure terror.fright a sudden feeling of fear, or a situation that makes you feel this:
My body was shaking with fright. You gave me a fright! He’s had a bit of fright, that’s all.panic a sudden feeling of fear or nervousness that makes you unable to think clearly or behave sensibly:
She was in such a panic that she hardly knew what she was doing! There were scenes of sheer panic immediately following the bomb blast.alarm a feeling of fear or worry which shows in your voice or behaviour, because you think something bad might happen:
When I mentioned her name, he looked up at me in alarm. The streets were calm and there was no sign of alarm.foreboding /fɔːˈbəʊdɪŋ $ fɔːrˈboʊ-/ a feeling that something bad or unpleasant might happen although there is no obvious reason why it should:
She felt the same sense of foreboding she had before her father died.phobia /ˈfəʊbiə $ ˈfoʊ-/ a permanent strong unreasonable fear of something:
I had a phobia about going to the dentist.frighten to make someone feel afraid:
The thought of being in court frightened him.scare especially spoken to frighten someone.
Scare is less formal than
frighten, and is the usual word to use in everyday English:
He was driving fast just to scare us. It scared him to think that his mother might never recover.terrify to make someone feel extremely frightened:
The idea of going down into the caves terrified her. Robbers terrified bank staff by threatening them at gunpoint.give somebody a fright to make someone suddenly feel frightened in a way that makes their heart beat more quickly:
It gave me a terrible fright when I found him unconscious on the floor.give somebody the creeps if a person or place gives you the creeps, they make you feel slightly frightened because they are strange:
This house gives me the creeps.startle to frighten someone. Used when you suddenly see someone and did not know they were there, or when you suddenly hear something:
I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to startle you. The noise startled him, and he dropped his glass on the floor.intimidate to deliberately frighten someone, especially so that they will do what you want:
Many of the gangs were using dogs to intimidate people. [TahlilGaran] English Thesaurus ▲