terrify
/ˈtɛɹɪfaɪ/verb
terrify is spelled T-E-R-R-I-F-Y: 7 letters and 3 syllables. It appears about once in every 2 million words in written English, the 36,998th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As a verb, terrify means “To frighten greatly; to fill with terror” (English Wiktionary, September 2026).
How many letters and syllables are in terrify?
| Letters | 7: T-E-R-R-I-F-Y |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 3 (from its American pronunciation) |
| In writing | about once in every 2 million words; the 36,998th most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | none measured in search |
Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation and the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How common is terrify?
Terrify appears about once in every 2 million words in written English, the 36,998th 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 terrify?
- /ˈtɛɹɪfaɪ/
Terrify has 3 syllables (counted from its American pronunciation in the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary).
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: LL-Q1860_(eng)-Vealhurl-terrify.wav, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
Forms of terrify
- terrifies present, singular, he/she/it
- terrifying participle, present
- terrified participle, past
- terrifie
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does terrify mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
verb
- 1
To frighten greatly; to fill with terror.
- 2
To menace or intimidate.
- 3
obsoleteTo make terrible.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Terrify in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
In the sense to frighten greatly; to fill with terror:
| Language | Words |
|---|---|
| French | terrifier |
| German | erschrecken |
| Portuguese | aterrorizar |
| Spanish | aterrar |
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 terrify come from?
From Middle French terrifier, from Latin terrificare.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).