intimidating
93
5.3
- adjective
- /ɪnˈtɪmɪˌdeɪtɪŋ/
:
intimidante
- His intimidating presence in the room made the new employees feel nervous.
- an intimidating presence
- an intimidating environment
- intimidating work
I'm a very athletic, intimidating tall person.
- I'm a very athletic, intimidating tall person.
- That's if that thing is too big or intimidating or confusing, it's unclear.
- You're more intimidating if you're calm collected.
- Real tall, scary, bald and intimidating presence.
- Yeah, protein powders can be intimidating, but the fact is that we need protein.
- And it can be intimidating and vexing.
- You're not being very honest with yourself about how intimidating you are to the people around you.
- And people will see them as impressive, capable, powerful, but cold, intimidating, hard to talk to.
- But do you think that do you get feedback from guys that you're like intimidating and kind of standoffish?
- It's like, oh God, like I would rather be intimidating than harmless.
- But in the pack, they're louder and they're intimidating.
Examples
-
Listen, I realize that it must be really intimidating to talk to me, you know.
-
We were new then to this intimidating Neo Georgian place.
-
So who was the most intimidating on set?
-
That was a very intimidating performance in there, by the way.
-
And people will see them as impressive, capable, powerful, but cold, intimidating, hard to talk to.
-
1: Meeting inmates at the Valley State Prison for Women in California is an intimidating experience.
Academic text (2011) -
And it can be intimidating and vexing.
-
You're not being very honest with yourself about how intimidating you are to the people around you.
-
Assessment is the most exciting and the most intimidating aspect of education reform for the critical dance educator.
Academic text (1996) -
He's very polite, but he can be very intimidating.
Synonyms
763
1.0
Causing fear or making you feel afraid
287
3.0
Causing someone to feel afraid
209
5.3
Making people feel very afraid
78
6.2
So hard to do that you feel too worried to try
37
4.8
Very frightening and likely to make people afraid
3
4.2
Causing someone to feel uneasy or worried
1
5.0
Giving the feeling that something dangerous may happen
1
8.1
To make someone feel afraid or less confident
Looking unfriendly or dangerous so people do not want to go near
Antonyms
How Intimidating
Surface Forms
Morphology
intimidating = intimidate (transparent) = intimidate + ing
The adjective is directly formed from the verb 'intimidate' with '-ing' and keeps the straightforward meaning 'causing fear or nervousness'.
Etymology
Intimidating comes from the same root as timid, which means 'fearful', with the prefix in- meaning 'in'. So something intimidating is like 'putting fear into' someone, which is why it makes people feel nervous or less confident.