terror Meaning, Definition & Usage

  1. noun an overwhelming feeling of fear and anxiety
    panic; affright.
  2. noun a person who inspires fear or dread
    threat; scourge.
    • he was the terror of the neighborhood
  3. noun a very troublesome child
    little terror; holy terror; brat.
  4. noun the use of extreme fear in order to coerce people (especially for political reasons)
    • he used terror to make them confess

WordNet

Ter"ror noun
Etymology
L. terror, akin to terrere to frighten, for tersere; akin to Gr. to flee away, dread, Skr. tras to tremble, to be afraid, Russ. triasti to shake: cf. F. terreur. Cf. Deter.
Definitions
  1. Extreme fear; fear that agitates body and mind; violent dread; fright.
    Terror seized the rebel host. Milton.
  2. That which excites dread; a cause of extreme fear.
    Those enormous terrors of the Nile. Prior.
    Rulers are not a terror to good works. Rom. xiii. 3.
    There is no terror, Cassius, in your threats. Shak.
    ✍ Terror is used in the formation of compounds which are generally self-explaining: as, terror-fraught, terror-giving, terror-smitten, terror-stricken, terror-struck, and the like. Syn. -- Alarm; fright; consternation; dread; dismay. See Alarm.

Webster 1913