terrific
Americanadjective
-
extraordinarily great or intense.
terrific speed.
- Synonyms:
- remarkable, extraordinary
-
extremely good; wonderful.
a terrific vacation.
- Synonyms:
- excellent, fine, remarkable, extraordinary
-
causing terror; terrifying.
adjective
-
very great or intense
a terrific noise
-
informal very good; excellent
a terrific singer
-
very frightening
Other Word Forms
- terrifically adverb
- unterrific adjective
- unterrifically adverb
Etymology
Origin of terrific
1660–70; < Latin terrificus frightening, equivalent to terr ( ēre ) to frighten + -i- -i- + -ficus -fic
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.
Real Run Winter Classic has some terrific basketball games next weekend.
From Los Angeles Times
And then there was Kristen Stewart, whose terrific debut, “The Chronology of Water,” ran the festival circuit last summer to great fanfare, and will expand into more theaters in January.
From Salon
The film has received mostly positive reviews, including four stars from the Guardian, which said Feig and his cast "deliver with terrific gusto; this is an innocent holiday treat".
From BBC
He was a beautiful footballer who could play with both feet, terrific ability.
From BBC
Mr. Waits is terrific here, his growl of a voice put to gentle use as a solitary person evidently glad and endearingly nervous to see his children.
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.
