terrifying
Causing intense dread
Terrifying describes something that causes intense fear or dread.
A terrifying experience leaves you shaken.
A terrifying thought is one you can barely bring yourself to consider.
The word implies fear strong enough to overwhelm—not merely scary or unsettling, but paralyzing: The storm's approach was terrifying.
Causing fear or cold
- petrifyingInducing paralytic terror
- spine-chillingIntensely frightening or eerie
- bloodcurdlingExtremely frightening or horrifying
- hair-raisingExtremely frightening or alarming
bone-chilling · gut-wrenching · paralyzing · heart-stopping · nerve-wracking · skin-crawling · shuddering · trembling
Causing unease or discomfort
- eerieDisturbingly strange
- creepyDisturbingly strange
- sinisterThreateningly suggestive of harm
- macabreDisturbing, death-obsessed
gruesome · ghastly · morbid · uncanny · nightmarish · ghoulish · grotesque · horrific
Nervous anticipation of trouble
- forebodingFearful anticipation of harm
- trepidationFearful uncertainty
- anxietyPersistent apprehensive distress
- uneaseMild persistent worry
angst · dread · fear · panic · horror · phobia · paranoia · despair
Conveying threat or danger
- ominousSuggesting something bad approaches
- forebodingFearful anticipation of harm
- threateningExpressing intent to harm
- intimidatingInspiring fear or unease
looming · impending · danger · peril · jeopardy · risk · hostile · predatory
Weirdly supernatural, disturbingly strange
- gothicDark, mysterious aesthetic
- hauntedOccupied by ghosts
- spectralGhostlike or wavelength-related
- phantasmagoricBizarrely dreamlike and shifting
ghostly · demonic · otherworldly · paranormal · cursed · possessed · apparition · phantom
Causing inability to move
- cripplingCausing severe impairment
- overwhelmingIntensely excessive in force
- consumingUsing up entirely
- engulfingSurrounding and consuming completely
suffocating · crushing · inescapable · relentless · unrelenting · all-consuming · overpowering · debilitating
chilling
Causing fear or cold
- petrifyingInducing paralytic terror
- spine-chillingIntensely frightening or eerie
- bloodcurdlingExtremely frightening or horrifying
hair-raising · bone-chilling · gut-wrenching · paralyzing · heart-stopping · nerve-wracking · skin-crawling · shuddering · trembling · goosebumps
unsettling
Causing unease or discomfort
macabre · gruesome · ghastly · morbid · uncanny · nightmarish · ghoulish · grotesque · horrific · monstrous
apprehension
Nervous anticipation of trouble
- forebodingFearful anticipation of harm
- trepidationFearful uncertainty
- anxietyPersistent apprehensive distress
unease · angst · dread · fear · panic · horror · phobia · paranoia · despair · hopelessness
menacing
Conveying threat or danger
- ominousSuggesting something bad approaches
- forebodingFearful anticipation of harm
- threateningExpressing intent to harm
intimidating · looming · impending · danger · peril · jeopardy · risk · hostile · predatory · stalking
eldritch
Weirdly supernatural, disturbingly strange
phantasmagoric · ghostly · demonic · otherworldly · paranormal · cursed · possessed · apparition · phantom · wraith
paralyzing
Causing inability to move
- cripplingCausing severe impairment
- overwhelmingIntensely excessive in force
- consumingUsing up entirely
engulfing · suffocating · crushing · inescapable · relentless · unrelenting · all-consuming · overpowering · debilitating · incapacitating
- emotional reactionsinspiring, moving, touching, heartwarming, chilling
- adjectivesbig, urgent, amazing, temporary, bold
- horrorhorror, fear, dread, haunted, bloody
- menacingthreatening, intimidating, menacing, ominous, sinister
- scary feelingsfrightening, dreadful, creepiness, goosebumps, bone-chilling
- Danger Levelsdanger, high risk, high-risk, low risk, critical
terrifyingcomforting
Giving emotional ease
soothing · reassuring · calming · relaxing · encouraging
terrifyingharmless
Causing no injury
nonthreatening · safe · nonintimidating · unalarming · unthreatening