Dictionary Definition
intimidating adj : discouraging through fear
[syn: daunting]
User Contributed Dictionary
Adjective
Extensive Definition
expert-subject Law
Intimidation is intentional behavior "which would
cause a person of ordinary sensibilities" fear of injury or harm. It's not necessary to prove
that the behavior was so violent as to cause terror or that the victim was
actually frightened. "The calculated use of violence or the threat of violence to attain
goals political, religious, or ideological in nature...through
intimidation, coercion,
or instilling fear" can be
defined as terrorism.
Threatening behaviours are supposed to be a
maladaptive outgrowth of normal competitive urge for
interrelational dominance
generally seen in animals. In case of human beings, threatening
behaviours may be more completely modulated by social forces, or
may be more mercilessly plotted by individual egotism. “To use a
'threat of force' or to 'intimidate' or 'interfere with' means to
say or do something which, under the same circumstances, would
cause another person of ordinary sensibilities to be fearful of
bodily harm if he or she did not comply.”
Like all behavioral traits it exists in greater
or lesser manifestation in each individual person over time, but
may be a more significant "compensatory behavior" for some as
opposed to others. Behavioral theorists often see threatening
behaviours as a consequence of being threatened by others,
including parents, authority
figures, playmates and siblings. “Use of force is justified
when a person reasonably believes that it is necessary for the
defense of oneself or another against the immediate use of unlawful
force.”
Intimidation may be employed consciously or
unconsciously, and a percentage of people who employ it consciously
may do so as the result of selfishly rationalized notions of its
appropriation, utility or self-empowerment. Intimidation
related to prejudice
and discrimination may
include conduct "which annoys, threatens, intimidates, alarms, or
puts a person in fear of their safety...because of a belief or
perception regarding such person's race, color, national origin,
ancestry, gender, religion, religious practice, age, disability or
sexual orientation, regardless of whether the belief or perception
is correct."
Intimidation may be manifested in such manner as
physical contacts, glowering countenance, emotional manipulation,
verbal abuse, purposeful embarrassment and/or actual physical
assault. “Behavior may include, but is not limited to, epithets,
derogatory comments or slurs and lewd propositions, assault,
impeding or blocking movement, offensive touching or any physical
interference with normal work or movement, and visual insults, such
as derogatory posters or cartoons.”
Criminal threatening is the crime of
intentionally or knowingly putting another person in fear of
imminent bodily injury. “Threat of harm generally involves a
perception of injury…physical or mental damage…act or instance of
injury, or a material and tangible detriment or loss to a person.”
“A terroristic threat is a crime generally involving a threat to
commit violence communicated with the intent to terrorize
another.”
There is no legal definition in English law as to
what behaviour constitutes "Intimidation", so it is up to the
courts to decide on a case by case basis. However, if somebody
threatens violence against somebody, then this may be a criminal
offence.
In most U.S.
jurisdictions, the crime remains a misdemeanor unless a
deadly
weapon is involved or actual violence is committed, in which
case it is usually considered a felony.
Criminal threatening can be the result of verbal
threats of violence, physical conduct (such as hand gestures or
raised fists), actual physical contact, or even simply the placing
of a sign, an object or
graffiti on the
property of another person with the purpose of coercing or
terrorizing.
Criminal threatening is also defined by arson, vandalism, the delivery of
noxious biological or chemical substances (or any substance that
appears to be a toxic substance), or any other crime against the
property of another person with the purpose of coercing or
terrorizing any person in reckless disregard for causing fear,
terror or inconvenience. Coercion is the use of “pressure, threats,
or intimidation” to compel or “force somebody to do something” or
“make something to happen.”
"Terrorizing" generally means to cause alarm,
fright, or dread in another person or inducing apprehension of
violence from a hostile or threatening event, person or object. “It
is not requisite, in order to constitute this crime, that personal
violence should be committed.”
Further reading
- To Be or Not to Be Intimidated?: That Is the Question
External links
intimidating in Spanish: Intimidación
intimidating in Japanese: 脅迫
intimidating in Portuguese:
Intimidação
Synonyms, Antonyms and Related Words
abusive, admonitory, bludgeoning, blustering, browbeating, bulldozing, bullying, cautionary, comminatory, denunciatory, deterrent, discouraging, disinclining, dissuading, dissuasive, expostulatory,
fear-inspiring, foreboding, hectoring, imminent, lowering, menacing, minacious, minatory, monitory, ominous, terroristic, terrorizing, threatening, threatful