intimidate

From Medieval Latin intimidātus, perfect passive participle of Latin intimidō (“to intimidate, terrify”) (see -ate (verb-forming suffix)), from in- (“in”) + timidus (“afraid, timid”) + -ō (verb-forming suffix); see timid.

• IPA^(key): /ɪnˈtɪmɪdeɪt/

• Audio (Southern England):

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intimidate (third-person singular simple present intimidates, present participle intimidating, simple past and past participle intimidated)

1. (transitive) To make timid or afraid; to cause to feel fear or nervousness; to deter, especially by threats of violence.

   Synonym: abash

   He's trying to intimidate you. If you ignore him, hopefully he'll stop.

   • 2018, Nnedi Okorafor, Who Fears Death, HarperVoyager, page 168:

     His father tried to intimidate his son into staying, threatening him with banishment and a possible beating.

• See Thesaurus:intimidate

• intimidatingly
• intimidation
• intimidator
• intimidatory
• timid

• William Dwight Whitney, Benjamin E[li] Smith, editors (1911), “intimidate”, in The Century Dictionary […], New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., →OCLC.
• “intimidate”, in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam, 1913, →OCLC.

intimidate

1. second-person singular voseo imperative of intimidar combined with te