terrorize

/ˌtɛrəˈraɪz/

/ˈtɛrəraɪz/

Other forms: terrorized; terrorizing; terrorizes

When you terrorize someone, you act in a way that makes that person feel terrified, or full of fear. A bully might terrorize his younger victims by threatening to beat them up.

There are more and less serious ways to terrorize someone: actual terrorists, who use violence to achieve political goals, are a classic example of people who terrorize. A less grim way to terrorize might be an older sister coercing a younger brother into doing her chores by threatening to hide his favorite toys. In either case, the victim experiences some degree of fear, and the person who terrorizes feels a sense of power and control.

Definitions of terrorize

1. verb

   coerce by violence or with threats
   synonyms: terrorise

   type of:

   coerce, force, hale, pressure, squeeze

   cause to do through pressure or necessity, by physical, moral or intellectual means
2. verb

   fill with terror; frighten greatly
   synonyms: terrify, terrorise

   types:

   panic

   cause sudden fear in or fill with sudden panic

   type of:

   affright, fright, frighten, scare

   cause fear in