terrible

[ ter-uh-buhl ]

adjective

1. distressing; severe:

   a terrible winter.

2. extremely bad; horrible:

   terrible coffee;

   a terrible movie.

3. exciting terror, awe, or great fear; dreadful; awful.

   Synonyms: horrid, horrendous, horrible, dire, appalling, frightful, fearful

4. formidably great:

   a terrible responsibility.

terrible

/ ˈtɛrəbəl /

adjective

1. very serious or extreme

   a terrible cough

2. informal.
   of poor quality; unpleasant or bad

   a terrible play

   a terrible meal

3. causing terror
4. causing awe

   the terrible nature of God

Derived Forms

• ˈterribleness, noun

Other Words From

• terri·ble·ness noun
• un·terri·ble adjective

Word History and Origins

Origin of terrible¹

First recorded in 1400–50; late Middle English, from Latin terribilis, equivalent to terr(ēre) “to frighten” + -ibilis -ible

Word History and Origins

Origin of terrible¹

C15: from Latin terribilis, from terrēre to terrify

Example Sentences

They were endorsed again the week after the massacre, as if they were not shocking but the logical evolution of four decades of messaging that, until that terrible August day, had failed to land.

From Salon

They treated it all like some terrible board game when they should have been sounding the alarms and giving the most menacing threat in American history the editorial weight it deserved.

From Salon

In 2004 I went to an election night party at Crobar, a terrible nightclub on the west side of Manhattan, because it seemed like a fun way to while away time as we waited for the polls to close.

From Slate

The ritual Democratic self-flagellation is calming down a bit as most people finally take a breath and recognize that while the result was a terrible disappointment it was anything but a landslide for Donald Trump, nor was it a crushing rebuke of the Democrats.

From Salon

“Before he was going onstage, he’d be like doubled up some nights with terrible pain in his stomach.”

From Los Angeles Times

Related Words

• abhorrent
• appalling
• atrocious
• awesome
• awful
• dangerous
• dire
• disastrous
• disturbing
• dreadful
• frightful
• ghastly
• gruesome
• harrowing
• hideous
• horrendous
• horrid
• horrifying
• serious
• severe