terrorist
Other forms: terrorists
Someone who uses violence, mayhem, and destruction — or the threat of those things — to coerce people or countries into taking a certain action is a terrorist. A terrorist may be motivated by religious fervor, politics, or just plain old-fashioned greed.
Terrorist has at its root the word "terror," which comes from the Latin word terrorem, meaning great fear. Great fear is exactly what terrorists hope to create so they can manipulate the situation to their benefit. The label terrorist is a subjective one. To the British, the American colonists who destroyed shiploads of tea in Boston Harbor in 1773 were terrorists. To colonists, they were patriots and heroes.
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a radical who employs terror as a political weapon; usually organizes with other terrorists in small cells; often uses religion as a cover for terrorist activities
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examples:
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Osama bin Laden
Arab terrorist who established al-Qaeda (born in 1957)
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Jaffar Umar Thalib
Indonesian terrorist and Islamic militant who commands the Laskar Jihad; uses violence to achieve political ends (1965-2000)
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Ilich Ramirez Sanchez
Venezuelan master terrorist raised by a Marxist-Leninist father; trained and worked with many terrorist groups (born in 1949)
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types:
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cyber-terrorist, cyberpunk, hacker
a programmer who breaks into computer systems in order to steal or change or destroy information as a form of cyber-terrorism
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Jacobin
a member of the radical movement that instituted the Reign of Terror during the French Revolution
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sleeper
a spy or saboteur or terrorist planted in an enemy country who lives there as a law-abiding citizen until activated by a prearranged signal
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suicide bomber
a terrorist who blows himself up in order to kill or injure other people
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kamikaze
a pilot trained and willing to cause a suicidal crash
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type of:
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radical
a person who has radical ideas or opinions
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Osama bin Laden
/ˈtɛrərəst/
/ˈtɛrərɪst/
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Vocabulary lists containing terrorist
Preparing to be an American citizen? Brush up on this list of U.S. history and government vocabulary based on the USCIS's list of 100 civics questions for the Naturalization Test. This list covers vocabulary from Questions 58–100. Here are links to our lists for the collection: List 1, List 2, List 3 Click here to view the entire guideline.
Stories about mysterious holes on the ocean floor, a 500-year-old shark, and a helpful hawk all contributed words to this list of vocabulary from the week's news.
In this powerful novel, a Brooklyn fifth grader explores the effects of the September 11th terrorist attacks on her family, friends, city, and country.
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