← Back to Fala2Me

escalate fear

[ɪˈskæleɪt fɪr]
verb phrase
intensificar o medo / aumentar o medo
1. to increase the intensity or severity of fear; to make fear grow progressively worse
The sudden noise began to escalate fear among the crowd.
O barulho repentino começou a intensificar o medo entre a multidão.
2. to deliberately heighten feelings of anxiety or terror in a situation
The horror movie was designed to escalate fear throughout the narrative.
O filme de horror foi projetado para aumentar o medo ao longo da narrativa.
Synonyms
intensify fearamplify fearheighten fearincrease anxietymagnify terror
Antonyms
alleviate fearreduce fearcalm fearsease anxietydiminish dread

Regional Variations

General Brazilian
intensificar o medo / aumentar o medo
Most common usage in Brazil
Rio de Janeiro
potencializar o medo
Alternative colloquial usage
São Paulo
elevar o medo / agravar o medo
Common in business and formal contexts
Portugal
intensificar o medo / acrescer o medo
Formal European Portuguese equivalent

Related Idioms & Phrases

raise the stakes
fan the flames of fear
wind up the tension
amp up anxiety
Look up more words on Fala2Me
The free English-Portuguese dictionary with real Brazilian accents, NYC slang, conjugator and more
Open Fala2Me →