terrible
Americanadjective
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very serious or extreme
a terrible cough
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informal of poor quality; unpleasant or bad
a terrible meal
a terrible play
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causing terror
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causing awe
the terrible nature of God
Usage
What does terrible mean? Terrible is commonly used to mean extremely bad—awful, dreadful, or horrible. It can also mean severe, as in I have a terrible case of the flu. (Of course, this sense of the word often overlaps with its meaning of “extremely bad.”)When it’s used to describe a person, terrible often means extremely disagreeable or cruel. Terrible is also a somewhat formal way of describing something as having great power or being worthy of awe. This sense of terrible is especially used to describe supernatural power, as in The wizard is known to wield a terrible force with his staff. Much less commonly, terrible can mean literally causing terror, but the related word terrifying is much more commonly used to mean this. Example: Everyone seems to like that restaurant, but I had a terrible experience there—bad food and even worse service.
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of terrible
First recorded in 1400–50; late Middle English, from Latin terribilis, equivalent to terr(ēre) “to frighten” + -ibilis -ible
Explanation
The original meaning of terrible was anything that causes terror. That meaning still applies, but mostly this is a word for anything really bad. Terrible used to be reserved for things that caused fear and terror, but today we use the word to describe anything awful, lousy, or just plain bad. People like saying "That movie was terrible!" or "The Yankees are terrible!" If you get a D on a test, you might tell your friends the test (or teacher) is terrible. Or you might also say, "I am terrible at taking tests."
Vocabulary lists containing terrible
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Spelling Practice 2, Unit 8
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
"It's a terrible thing, but thank goodness for a man that had a gun and knew how to use it," he told reporters.
From Barron's ● Oct. 16, 2026
“Los Angeles is resilient, and we’re going to show the country that Los Angeles can bounce back from a terrible, terrible disaster, and the comeback is going to be much greater than the setback.”
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 13, 2026
In response, Palantir told Global Women there was "no evidence that Palantir's software was at fault in this terrible tragedy".
From BBC ● Oct. 9, 2026
Is it compassionate to leave people detached from reality out on the cold street, or to police when something terrible happens?
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 9, 2026
“Nine! Please don’t blame her. It was my fault. I… I coerced it out of her,” Clare said, but he was a terrible liar even at his best.
From "The Undead Fox of Deadwood Forest" by Aubrey Hartman
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Get a wordDefinitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
