Meaning
Intimidate means to frighten, threaten, or make someone feel nervous, often in order to control their behavior or influence their decisions.
Grammar and Usage
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Part of speech: Verb
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Verb type: Transitive (requires an object)
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Patterns:
- intimidate someone
- intimidate someone into doing something
Examples of structures:
- "The bully intimidated the younger children."
- "He tried to intimidate her into keeping quiet."
Common Phrases
- intimidate witnesses – often used in legal contexts
- intimidate opponents – in sports or competitions
- feel intimidated by – to describe being affected by fear or pressure
Collocations
- verb + intimidate: try to intimidate, attempt to intimidate
- adjective + intimidate: easily intimidated, visibly intimidated
- noun + intimidate: intimidate witnesses, intimidate rivals
- preposition phrases: intimidated by his presence, intimidated into silence
Examples
- The large dog intimidated the children.
- She refused to be intimidated by his threats.
- The criminal tried to intimidate the witnesses into changing their stories.
- Many new employees feel intimidated by the boss’s strict manner.
- The team used their size and strength to intimidate their opponents.
- He often intimidates others without even realizing it.
- The student felt intimidated when speaking in front of the class.
Synonyms or Related
- threaten
- bully
- frighten
- overawe
- cow
Antonym
- encourage
- reassure
- comfort