intimidate
in·tim·i·date/ɪnˈtɪmɪdeɪt/verb
intimidate is spelled I-N-T-I-M-I-D-A-T-E: 10 letters and 4 syllables (in·tim·i·date). It appears 2.0 times per million words in written English, the 19,336th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As a verb, intimidate means “To make timid or afraid; to cause to feel fear or nervousness; to deter, especially by threats of violence” (English Wiktionary, September 2026).
How many letters and syllables are in intimidate?
| Letters | 10: I-N-T-I-M-I-D-A-T-E |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 4: in·tim·i·date |
| In writing | 2.0 times per million words; the 19,336th most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | none measured in search |
Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How common is intimidate?
Intimidate appears 2.0 times per million words in written English, the 19,336th most frequent word form in the list.
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How do you pronounce intimidate?
- US /ɪnˈtɪmɪdeɪt/
- US [ɪnˈtʰɪmɪdeɪ̯t]
- British /ɪnˈtɪmɪdɛjt/
Intimidate has 4 syllables, split in·tim·i·date in writing.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: LL-Q1860_(eng)-Vealhurl-intimidate.wav, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
Forms of intimidate
- intimidates present, singular, he/she/it
- intimidating participle, present
- intimidated participle, past
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does intimidate mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
verb
- 1
To make timid or afraid; to cause to feel fear or nervousness; to deter, especially by threats of violence.
He's trying to intimidate you. If you ignore him, hopefully he'll stop.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Intimidate in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
In the sense to make timid or fearful:
| Language | Words |
|---|---|
| French | intimider |
| German | einschüchtern |
| Portuguese | intimidar, amedrontar |
| Spanish | intimidar, amedrentar |
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Translations are Wiktionary's, by sense; a linked word has its own PlainSpell page.
Where does intimidate come from?
From Medieval Latin intimidātus, perfect passive participle of Latin intimidō (“to intimidate, terrify”) (see -ate (verb-forming suffix)), from in- (“in”) + timidus (“afraid, timid”) + -ō (verb-forming suffix); see timid.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).