Table of Contents
Definition of Terrorism
(noun) The premeditated use (or threat) of force or violence against civilian (nonmilitary) targets for political, religious, or ideological purposes.
Example of Terrorism
Types of Terrorism
- agroterrorism
- bioterrorism
- chemical terrorism
- cyberterrorism
- domestic terrorism
- ecoterrorism
- international terrorism
- narcoterrorism
- nuclear terrorism
- state-sponsored terrorism
- theoterrorism
Terrorism Pronunciation
Syllabification: ter·ror·ism
Audio Pronunciation
Phonetic Spelling
- American English – /tAIR-uhr-riz-uhm/
- British English – /tE-ruh-ri-zuhm/
International Phonetic Alphabet
- American English – /ˈtɛrəˌrɪzəm/
- British English – /ˈtɛrərɪz(ə)m/
Usage Notes
- Plural: terrorisms
- A terrorist commits an act of terrorism, terrorist act, or terrorist attack and belongs to a terrorist organization.
- Counterterrorism (counter-terrorism) attempts to prevent terrorism, often through counterintelligence (counter-intelligence).
- Critical terrorism studies (CTS) applies critical theory to the study of terrorism.
- A (noun) terrorist commits (adjective) terroristic acts (adverb) terroristically.
Additional Information
- Crime and Law Resources – Books, Journals, and Helpful Links
- Politics and Policy Resources – Books, Journals, and Helpful Links
- Terrorism Resources – Books, Journals, and Helpful Links
- Word origin of “terrorism” – Online Etymology Dictionary: etymonline.com
Related Terms
- authority
- coercion
- ecoterrorism
- ethnocentrism
- globalization
- government
- law
- politics
- power
- totalitarianism
Works Consulted
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Merriam-Webster. (N.d.) Merriam-Webster Dictionary. (http://www.merriam-webster.com/).
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Schaefer, Richard. 2013. Sociology: A Brief Introduction. 10th ed. New York: McGraw-Hill.
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Wikipedia contributors. (N.d.) Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. Wikimedia Foundation. (https://en.wikipedia.org/).
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Cite the Definition of Terrorism
ASA – American Sociological Association (5th edition)
Bell, Kenton, ed. 2014. “terrorism.” In Open Education Sociology Dictionary. Retrieved February 9, 2025 (https://sociologydictionary.org/terrorism/).
APA – American Psychological Association (6th edition)
terrorism. (2014). In K. Bell (Ed.), Open education sociology dictionary. Retrieved from https://sociologydictionary.org/terrorism/
Chicago/Turabian: Author-Date – Chicago Manual of Style (16th edition)
Bell, Kenton, ed. 2014. “terrorism.” In Open Education Sociology Dictionary. Accessed February 9, 2025. https://sociologydictionary.org/terrorism/.
MLA – Modern Language Association (7th edition)
“terrorism.” Open Education Sociology Dictionary. Ed. Kenton Bell. 2014. Web. 9 Feb. 2025. <https://sociologydictionary.org/terrorism/>.