ter·ri·fy

verb

/ˈterɪfaɪ/

Verb Forms

present simple I / you / we / they terrify	/ˈterɪfaɪ/ /ˈterɪfaɪ/
he / she / it terrifies	/ˈterɪfaɪz/ /ˈterɪfaɪz/
past simple terrified	/ˈterɪfaɪd/ /ˈterɪfaɪd/
past participle terrified	/ˈterɪfaɪd/ /ˈterɪfaɪd/
-ing form terrifying	/ˈterɪfaɪɪŋ/ /ˈterɪfaɪɪŋ/

to make somebody feel extremely frightened使恐惧；使十分害怕；使惊恐
- terrify somebody Flying terrifies her.她害怕坐飞机。
- Stop it! You’re terrifying the children!停下来！你吓坏了孩子们！
- terrify somebody into (doing) something He terrified employees at the bank into handing over cash.他恐吓银行职员交出现金。
Synonyms frighten
frightenscare ▪ alarm ▪ terrifyThese words all mean to make somebody afraid.
frighten to make somebody feel afraid, often suddenly:
He brought out a gun and frightened them off.他掏出一把枪，把他们吓跑了。
scare to make somebody feel afraid:
They managed to scare the bears away.他们设法把熊吓跑了。
alarm to make somebody anxious or afraid:
It alarms me that nobody takes this problem seriously.谁都不认真对待这个问题，我非常担心。
Alarm is used when somebody has a feeling that something unpleasant or dangerous might happen in the future; the feeling is often more one of worry than actual fear.terrify to make somebody feel extremely afraid:
Flying terrified her.她害怕坐飞机。
frighten or scare?Scare is slightly more informal than frighten.Patterns
- to frighten/scare somebody/something away/off
- to frighten/scare/terrify somebody into doing something
- It frightens/scares/alarms/terrifies me that…
- It frightens/scares/alarms/terrifies me to think, see, etc.
Topics Feelingsb2
Word Originlate 16th cent.: from Latin terrificare, from terrificus ‘frightening’, from terrere ‘frighten’.