terrible
Americanadjective
-
very serious or extreme
a terrible cough
-
informal of poor quality; unpleasant or bad
a terrible meal
a terrible play
-
causing terror
-
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
- terribleness noun
- unterrible adjective
Etymology
Origin of terrible
First recorded in 1400–50; late Middle English, from Latin terribilis, equivalent to terr(ēre) “to frighten” + -ibilis -ible
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.
Having used that terrible experience of Rome as fuel for Murrayfield, what will get them to the dark place - as the prop Pierre Schoeman might put it - before Wales in Cardiff on Saturday?
From BBC
That may turn out to be a terrible mistake - but it's a risk he decided was worth taking.
From BBC
Inflation is terrible for retirees; falling inflation is good.
From MarketWatch
The road, he said, "wasn't great whenever I moved here. It's terrible now".
From BBC
As of Thursday afternoon, the index was essentially flat this year to date — not terrible, but not great.
From MarketWatch
Definitions 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.
