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.
AI stocks have had a terrible few days as hot inflation raises the cost of finance and threatens the debt-fueled investment in data centers.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 18, 2026
"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
He has this terrible feeling of helplessness that is eventually supplanted by this terrible feeling of power that he’s unable to manage.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 16, 2026
For Batrice, the danger wasn’t simply that the confrontation looked terrible.
From Slate ● Oct. 15, 2026
I could hear terrible sounds of sickness all around me.
From "Code Name Kingfisher" by Liz Kessler
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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.
