A dark, ominous plume of smoke rising from behind a row of colorful city buildings under a grey sky.

terrorismo

te-rro-REES-moh

nounmB2

terrorism?political or ideological violence

Also:reign of terror?systematic use of fear

📝 In Action

El mundo se unió para luchar contra el terrorismo.

The world united to fight against terrorism.

Cualquier acto de terrorismo es inaceptable.

Any act of terrorism is unacceptable.

Debemos prevenir el terrorismo internacional.

We must prevent international terrorism.

Word Connections

Synonyms

violencia (violence)

Antonyms

paz (peace)

Common Collocations

atentado terrorista – terrorist attack
lucha contra el terrorismo – fight against terrorism
terrorismo de Estado – state-sponsored terrorism

💡 Grammar Points

Predicting Gender with -ismo

Most words ending in '-ismo' (like 'capitalismo', 'optimismo', or 'terrorismo') are masculine. This is a reliable pattern you can use to guess the gender of many abstract concepts.

❌ Common Pitfalls

Don't forget the 'El'

Mistake: "Hablamos sobre terrorismo."

Correction: Hablamos sobre EL terrorismo. In Spanish, when talking about general concepts or 'isms', we usually need to put 'the' (el/la) in front of the word, even if we don't do that in English.

⭐ Usage Tips

Pronouncing the double R

The 'rr' in 'terrorismo' is strongly rolled. To do this, try to vibrate the tip of your tongue against the roof of your mouth, just behind your teeth.

✏️ Quick Practice

💡 Quick Quiz: terrorismo

Question 1 of 1

Which of these is the correct way to say 'Terrorism is a problem' in Spanish?

📚 More Resources

Word Family

terrorista(terrorist) - noun

terror(terror) - noun

aterrorizar(to terrify) - verb

Frequently Asked Questions

Is 'terrorismo' always used for political contexts?

Almost always. While the root 'terror' refers to extreme fear, 'terrorismo' specifically refers to the organized use of that fear to achieve political, religious, or ideological goals.

Can 'terrorismo' be plural?

Yes, 'terrorismos' exists, but it is extremely rare. People usually use the singular form even when talking about multiple instances of it.