as in frightening
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Recent Examples of Synonyms for persecutory
Adjective
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Much of the film rests on a razor's edge between funny and frightening, which makes its twists and turns all the more surprising.—
Katie Rife,
Entertainment Weekly,
28 Oct. 2025 -
In the premiere’s early minutes, a young woman on a mission falls prey to a vampire and his frightening creatures known as revenants, sparking Helen’s decision to bring Guy into the fold.—
Abbey White,
HollywoodReporter,
27 Oct. 2025
Adjective
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These are not the words of a Premier League cheerleader, or indeed of someone fearful that English football will be left behind if La Liga and Serie A get their way.—
Oliver Kay,
New York Times,
23 Oct. 2025
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This hesitancy is common, Travers said, because people may be fearful of being judged or of having their trauma follow them later in life.—
Madeline Mitchell,
USA Today,
18 Oct. 2025
Adjective
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Kim's direction is bold and stylish, and the supernatural scenes are terrifying, embodying the finest that Korean horror has to offer.—
Katie Rife,
Entertainment Weekly,
28 Oct. 2025
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By the time it was all set up, the whole cold, disintegrating place was threaded with lights and lines, flickering everywhere, black and red, the sheer quantity somehow terrifying and embracing at once.—
Blair Braverman,
Outside,
28 Oct. 2025
Adjective
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This ruling is a chilling step toward unchecked government overreach, intruding on the most personal aspects of our private lives.—
Mandy Taheri,
MSNBC Newsweek,
24 Oct. 2025
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After the series premiered on Netflix in October 2025, viewers were left wondering just how much of its chilling story was real.—
Emily Blackwood,
PEOPLE,
22 Oct. 2025
Adjective
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The truth can be far more haunting than any scary story.—
Ryan Coleman,
Entertainment Weekly,
22 Oct. 2025
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The movie adaptation was terrifying, but the creepy atmospheric tension in the novel is even scarier.—
Brian Truitt,
USA Today,
22 Oct. 2025
Adjective
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That risk has reached alarming heights in recent years.—
STEPHEN WERTHEIM,
Foreign Affairs,
28 Oct. 2025
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Hull seemed perplexed by this as an alarming number of season-ending injuries continued to pile up, sidelining five of her own Indiana Fever teammates before their unexpected—and frankly remarkable—playoff run.—
Emily Tannenbaum,
Glamour,
27 Oct. 2025
Adjective
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The New York Jets’ Sunday began with a horrible loss, as legendary center Nick Mangold passed away after a long battle with kidney disease.—
Scott Thompson,
FOXNews.com,
26 Oct. 2025
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Šilovs did, however, look horrible in the shootout.—
Josh Yohe,
New York Times,
26 Oct. 2025
Adjective
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The Phantom of the Opera (1925) is a benchmark for the ghastly horrors that accompany unrequited love, and Chaney's twisted character will go to absurd lengths to have his way.—
Steven Thrash,
Entertainment Weekly,
24 Oct. 2025
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Golden State committed 20 turnovers, a ghastly 14 of them in the first half.—
Joseph Dycus,
Mercury News,
13 Oct. 2025
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Cite this Entry
“Persecutory.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/persecutory. Accessed 30 Oct. 2025.
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