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intimidate

Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

  • transitive verb To make timid; fill with fear.
  • transitive verb To coerce or deter, as with threats.

from The Century Dictionary.

  • To make timid or fearful; make afraid; inspire with fear; deter by threats. See intimidation, 2.
  • Synonyms To abash, frighten, scare, daunt, cow.

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

  • transitive verb To make timid or fearful; to inspire of affect with fear; to deter, as by threats; to dishearten; to abash.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • verb transitive To make timid or fearful; to inspire or affect with fear; to deter, as by threats; to dishearten; to abash.
  • verb transitive To impress, amaze, excite or induce extraordinary affection in others toward oneself.

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

  • verb make timid or fearful
  • verb to compel or deter by or as if by threats

Etymologies

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition

[Medieval Latin intimidāre, intimidāt- : Latin in-, causative pref.; see in– + Latin timidus, timid; see timid.]

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

From Medieval Latin intimidatus, past participle of intimidare ("to make afraid"), from Latin in ("in") + timidus ("afraid, timid"); see timid.

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Examples

  • First off, don't let the "3" in the title intimidate you.

    Talking About Games! 2008

  • Good for Speaker Pelosi standing her ground and principles on not letting Mr. Weinstein intimidate her with his demands.

    Sources: Clinton supporter pressures Pelosi 2008

  • Don't let the long title intimidate you: This large-format offering is filled with gorgeous photos and candid interviews with some of the sport's most accomplished players, who share their love of the game.

    Browsing through World Cup books 2010

  • Then you put in very long hours and collect a nice salary, while employing your jargon to intimidate outsiders.

    The Guardian World News 2011

  • Until that happens, I see it as an attempt to intimidate, which is wrong, but not an incident where anyone was actually denied a vote based on current information.

    Patterico's Pontifications 2008

  • "Let us walk away with the lessons of this," Gray told the crowd of dozens of employees, after adding that such an incident can "intimidate" elected officials from participating in outreach such as Rep. Gabrielle Giffords's event Saturday.

    D.C. government observes moment of silence for Ariz. victims Washington Post Editors 2011

  • The COR told me that "intimidate" was too strong a word, but that Mr. Torres essentially said that this was all about paperwork and wasn't a big deal.

    David Isenberg: Private Security Contractors in Iraq: Where are we going?" 2010

  • The COR told me that "intimidate" was too strong a word, but that Mr. Torres essentially said that this was all about paperwork and wasn't a big deal.

    David Isenberg: Private Security Contractors in Iraq: Where are we going?" 2010

  • The opposition African Christian Democratic Party said it hoped Nel's arrest would not "intimidate" the prosecuting authority from proceeding against Selebi.

    ANC Daily News Briefing 2008

  • Mr. Boyle, a former Syracuse cop appointed by former Republican Governor George Pataki, told the Post last week that current Democratic Governor David Paterson's administration had tried to "intimidate" him into accepting a $500,000 settlement in lieu of yanking liquor licenses at nine Cipriani eateries, including the Rainbow Room at Rockefeller Center.

    Powerful Liquor Authority Chairman Now Less Powerful 2008

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