# terrorist

Pronunciation: US say "TER-uh-rist" /ˈtɛɹəɹɪst/; UK

## Noun

1. A person, group, or organization that uses violence, or the threat of violence, to advance political aims.
   - Simple: Someone who uses violence, or the threat of violence, to reach political goals.
   - _A lone terrorist detonated explosives near the embassy to protest the occupation._
   - _Investigators traced the funds to terrorists operating across the border._
3. In France during the Terror of 1793–94, an agent or backer of the Revolutionary Tribunal.
   - Simple: During the French Revolution, a person who served the courts that ordered mass executions.
   - _As a zealous terrorist, he denounced his own neighbors to the tribunal._
   - _The terrorists of 1794 wielded the guillotine as an instrument of state policy._

## Adjective

2. Relating to or characteristic of terrorism and the people who carry it out.
   - Simple: Connected with violence used to scare people into political change.
   - _Authorities increased security after a series of terrorist threats._
   - _The court convicted him of belonging to a terrorist organization._

## Origin

From French terroriste, and by surface analysis terror plus the suffix -ist. It was first used by Edmund Burke.

Source: DictionaryAI, https://dictionaryai.com/define/terrorist (written from Wiktionary data, CC BY-SA 4.0: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/).