terrifier

\tɛ.ʁi.fje\

/\tɛ.ʁi.fje\/ verb

The verdict

“terrifier” is uncommon French (frequency #90,248 among 3,703 “T” headwords), classed as a verb. The kind of spelling people second-guess.

#90,248
frequency rank, French
3,703
“T” headwords

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - Frapper de terreur ; épouvanter.

Corpus desk

Index FR-terrifier · terrifier · French

terrifier · rank #90,248 · 0 variants · 0 confusables

  • FREQ-RARE #90,248
  • LEN-LONG 9 letters
  • VOW-4 4 vowels
  • CONFUS-0 No pairs
  • VAR-0 0 variants
  • BOOK-MID 3,703
  • PHOTO-FINISH Ternay

Nearest frequency peer: Ternay (-1 rank slots)

Desk codes from Wiktionary headword shape, FrequencyWords rank tier, confusable-pair count, generated misspelling depth, letter-cohort book size, and photo-finish peer. Not a difficulty grade.

Rangs de longue queue près de « terrifier »

Bande clairsemée: les barres inversent le rang pour que le rare se lise plus court

corpus weight

What this shows Vue de longue queue: où « terrifier » se situe face à des rangs français aussi rares.

Source FrequencyWords open word-frequency list As of September 3, 2026
Key facts for terrifier
PropertyValue
Headwordterrifier
LanguageFrench
Part of speechVerb
IPA\tɛ.ʁi.fje\
Letters9
Frequency rank#90,248
Misspellings tracked0
Confusable pairs0
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Longue queue: rang de « terrifier » en français

Cette échelle va du noyau du français courant (gauche) jusqu'à la traîne des formes rares (droite).terrifiertombe dans cette queue de rareté:

#1#100#1K#10K#100K
← used constantlyrarely used →

L'échelle est logarithmique (chaque tic ≈ 10× plus rare). Voisins rares de la même bande: « Ternay » (#90,247), « tengu » (#90,246), « Tikal » (#90,250). Parmi 3,703 lemmes en « T », « terrifier » est au #90,248. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

Rare enough to double-check

terrifier is uncommon French at frequency #90,248 among 3,703 “T” headwords, classed as averb, transcribed \tɛ.ʁi.fje\. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. Gloss: "Frapper de terreur ; épouvanter.".

We couldn't generate a plausible misspelling set for terrifier, a straightforward case of a spelling with little room for common typos. This headword has no recorded confusable partner, which usually means its spelling is distinct enough that readers don't reach for a similar-looking word instead.

This entry carries no recorded etymology, so its spelling is best read as a straightforward mapping from sound to letter. The correct French form is terrifier, spelled T-E-R-R-I-F-I-E-R.

Definition

  1. 1
    Frapper de terreur ; épouvanter.

Recorded use

Wiktionary examples

These source excerpts show how terrifier appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.

  1. Et voilà qu’Eugène passait les soirées entières dans le salon jaune, écoutant religieusement ces grotesques que lui, Aristide, avait si impitoyablement raillés. Quand il sut, par les bavardages de la ville, que son frère donnait des poignées de main à Granoux et en recevait du marquis, il se demanda avec anxiété ce qu’il devait croire. Se serait-il trompé…
  2. L’abbaye, dit-on, doit son origine à une comtesse Cuniga, une sorte de Barbe-Bleue en jupons, qui avait empoisonné ses sept maris et terrifiait toute la contrée par ses crimes.

This word in other languages

Definitions, pronunciation, and etymology for this entry are drawn from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org structured extract (CC BY-SA); frequency ordering uses the FrequencyWords open word-frequency list (2018 French corpus, MIT). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.

Frequently Asked Questions

How do you spell "terrifier"?
"terrifier" is spelled T-E-R-R-I-F-I-E-R. The IPA pronunciation is \tɛ.ʁi.fje\.
What does "terrifier" mean?
As a verb, "terrifier" means: Frapper de terreur ; épouvanter.
How do you pronounce "terrifier"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "terrifier" is \tɛ.ʁi.fje\. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What language does "terrifier" come from?
"terrifier" is a French word. PlainSpell covers definitions, pronunciations, and spelling data across English, Spanish, Portuguese, French, and German.
Is PlainSpell free to use?
Yes, PlainSpell is a completely free word reference. You can look up definitions, pronunciations, confusable pairs, homophones, and spelling corrections across 5 languages without any sign-up or subscription.

Similar French words by spelling shape

Same letter count and similar misspelling depth for "terrifier", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

Frequency-ranked French headwords with 9 letters (nearest by frequency rank).

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list