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to intimidate

to intimidate

294 4.9
To frighten someone so they do what you want
  • verb
  • /ɪnˈtɪmɪˌdeɪt/
translation icon : intimidar
  • The bully tried to intimidate his classmates with threats and aggression.
  • feel intimidated
  • harass and intimidate
  • intimidate or coerce

And that would be enough to intimidate anybody.

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Examples

  • And the police had brought this young man into this place to intimidate him into telling the truth.

  • We can't let these guys intimidate us.

  • And that would be enough to intimidate anybody.

  • So the first is you already know the strategy, you intimidate them, right?

  • Your Honor, is he allowed to just intimidate me like this?

  • Turning Point UK members, by contrast, seek to intimidate our young people.

  • Apparently I intimidate them if you don't answer yes to that question.

  • Don't let 'em intimidate you.

  • The United States will not be intimidated.

  • The general public also was less easy to intimidate and less tolerant of antisocial behavior.

    Academic text (2011)

Synonyms

to scare
vsto intimidate
1.0

To make someone feel afraid or unsure of themselves

aims to produce fear with the clear goal of making someone comply
to threaten
vsto intimidate
987 3.3

To tell someone you will hurt them to make them afraid

relies on creating fear to push someone toward a desired action
to frighten
vsto intimidate
540 1.0

To make someone feel afraid

uses fear purposefully to make someone follow orders or requests
to discourage
vsto intimidate
257 3.5

To try to stop something by making people less willing to do it

uses fear with the intent to force compliance, not only to prevent action
to terrify
vsto intimidate
148 3.2

To make someone feel very frightened

can be used to frighten for control but is usually more about high intensity fear
to terrorize
vsto intimidate
  • NSFW
145 6.7

To frighten someone very much by using threats or violence

is similar but can be less continuous or less violent in method
to deter
vsto intimidate
94 5.6

Make someone less likely to do something by making them fear bad results

seeks to create direct fear to make someone do what is wanted
to coerce
vsto intimidate
  • Offensive
91 6.4

Force someone to do something by threats

uses fear specifically to pressure someone into doing what is wanted
to bully
vsto intimidate
  • Offensive
68 3.8

To scare or hurt someone, often someone weaker

seeks fear to make someone comply with the speaker's wishes
to unnerve
vsto intimidate
20 6.3

To make someone feel nervous and less confident

targets fear as a tool to make someone follow demands rather than just unsettle them
to daunt
vsto intimidate
7 7.2

To make someone feel afraid or less confident

focuses on causing fear to influence behaviour rather than only lowering confidence

Antonyms

163 3.4

To make someone feel less worried and more confident

How Intimidating

to terrorize
  • NSFW
145 6.7
to terrify
148 3.2
to intimidate
294 4.9
to alarm
133 1.9
to unsettle
7 4.9

Surface Forms

intimidate infinitive
intimidated past participle
intimidating present participle
intimidates third person singular

Morphology

intimidate = intimid (semi-transparent) = in + timid + ate

The suffix '-ate' modifies 'intimid' to form a verb, but the specific meaning of 'intimidate' as 'to frighten or make someone feel less confident' is not fully transparent.

Etymology

The word intimidate comes from the old root timid meaning 'fear', which you can see in the common word timid. So to intimidate someone is to make them feel 'afraid' or less confident, often to make them do what you want.