[Elamur Dictionary](https://md.dictionary.elamur.ai/free/en/) · [this page in HTML](https://dictionary.elamur.ai/free/en/english/terrifying/)

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# terrifying

adjective (terrifying, more terrifying, most terrifying); verb form (present participle of terrify)

«terrifying» in the English dictionary: everyday — its meanings, how the lessons use it, and examples, each with its tree on Mova.

## Everyday

1. Terrifying means making you feel extremely frightened. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/T/terrifying/#m1)
2. (informal) Terrifying can also mean very worrying or amazing in a scary way, as in «a terrifying amount of homework». [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/T/terrifying/#m2)

### In the lessons

In stories it builds suspense and fear: storms, monsters, cliff edges; in everyday talk people exaggerate («the test was terrifying»); it is stronger than «scary» or «frightening».

### Examples

- The roller coaster was terrifying! [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/T/terrifying/#x1)
- A terrifying roar came from the cave. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/T/terrifying/#x2)
- Being lost in the crowd was terrifying for the little boy. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/T/terrifying/#x3)
- The storm made a terrifying noise. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/T/terrifying/#x4)
- It's terrifying how fast the summer goes. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/T/terrifying/#x5)
- The film had one terrifying scene with a shark. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/T/terrifying/#x6)
- Standing on the high diving board was terrifying. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/T/terrifying/#x7)

### Note

Different from «terrified»: something is terrifying (it causes fear); a person is terrified (they feel fear). «Terrific» is a false friend: it usually means very good!

## On Mova

- [Trees and pragmatics of «terrifying» in the school dictionary](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/T/terrifying/): every meaning and example parsed by Mova, with its dependency tree and frames.
- [«terrifying» in the school dictionary](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/dictionaries/school/w/terrifying.html) on Mova free.