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 meal

   a terrible play

3. causing terror

4. causing awe

   the terrible nature of God

Other Word Forms

• terribleness noun
• unterrible 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

The British historian Arnold Toynbee saw the Industrial Revolution as “a period as disastrous and terrible as any through which a nation ever passed.”

Read more on The Wall Street Journal

Defenders say he did great things for American foreign policy, critics say he did terrible things to other countries and neither pay much attention to the terrible things he did to America.

Read more on Salon

“My role is about the fiscal effect of firing a coach under a terrible contract,” said Landry, who was speaking to reporters about other matters but was asked about recent developments at LSU.

Read more on Los Angeles Times

With a long, terrible screech, its entire roof peeled off and sailed away on the wind.

Read more on Literature

"Naso Isaacs had the right to feel safe in her own home and this has been a deliberate and terrible attack."

Read more on BBC

Related Words

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

When To Use

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.