terrorism

TEH-ror-iz-um

meaning in plain English

Using violence or threats to scare people and force them to do what you want for a political or social cause.

for example

The bombing was an act of terrorism meant to frighten the whole city into changing its laws.

Imagine someone blows up a bus just to make everyone afraid to ride buses anymore. That’s terrorism—using fear as a weapon to push their own goals, no matter who gets hurt.