What does terrible mean?

Definitions for terrible
ˈtɛr ə bəlter·ri·ble

This dictionary definitions page includes all the possible meanings, example usage and translations of the word terrible.

Princeton's WordNet

  1. awful, dire, direful, dread(a), dreaded, dreadful, fearful, fearsome, frightening, horrendous, horrific, terribleadjective

    causing fear or dread or terror

    "the awful war"; "an awful risk"; "dire news"; "a career or vengeance so direful that London was shocked"; "the dread presence of the headmaster"; "polio is no longer the dreaded disease it once was"; "a dreadful storm"; "a fearful howling"; "horrendous explosions shook the city"; "a terrible curse"

  2. atrocious, abominable, awful, dreadful, painful, terrible, unspeakableadjective

    exceptionally bad or displeasing

    "atrocious taste"; "abominable workmanship"; "an awful voice"; "dreadful manners"; "a painful performance"; "terrible handwriting"; "an unspeakable odor came sweeping into the room"

  3. severe, terrible, wickedadjective

    intensely or extremely bad or unpleasant in degree or quality

    "severe pain"; "a severe case of flu"; "a terrible cough"; "under wicked fire from the enemy's guns"; "a wicked cough"

  4. frightful, terrible, awful, tremendousadjective

    extreme in degree or extent or amount or impact

    "in a frightful hurry"; "spent a frightful amount of money"

Wiktionary

  1. terribleadjective

    Dreadful; causing alarm and fear.

    The witch gave him a terrible curse.

  2. terribleadjective

    formidable, powerful.

  3. terribleadjective

    Intense; extreme in degree or extent.

    He paid a terrible price for his life of drinking.

  4. terribleadjective

    Unpleasant; disagreeable.

    The food was terrible, but it was free.

  5. terribleadjective

    Very bad; lousy.

    Whatever he thinks, he is a terrible driver.

Samuel Johnson's Dictionary

  1. Terribleadjective

    Etymology: terrible, Fr. from terribilis, Lat.

    Was this a face to be expos’d
    In the most terrible and nimble stroke
    Of quick, cross lightning. William Shakespeare, King Lear.

    Fit love for gods
    Not terrible, though terrour be in love. John Milton.

    Thy native Latium was thy darling care,
    Prudent in peace, and terrible in war. Matthew Prior.

    Being indispos’d by the terrible coldness of the season, he reposed himself till the weather should mend. Edward Hyde.

    I began to be in a terrible fear of him, and to look upon myself as a dead man. John Tillotson.

ChatGPT

  1. terrible

    Terrible is an adjective used to describe something that causes great fear, distress, or dreadful to an extreme extent. It can also be used to refer to something extremely bad or of low quality.

Webster Dictionary

  1. Terribleadjective

    adapted or likely to excite terror, awe, or dread; dreadful; formidable

  2. Terribleadjective

    excessive; extreme; severe

Chambers 20th Century Dictionary

  1. Terrible

    ter′i-bl, adj. fitted to excite terror or awe: awful: dreadful.—ns. Terr′ible-in′fant, an inconveniently outspoken child—the Fr. enfant terrible; Terr′ibleness, state of being terrible: terror, dread.—adv. Terr′ibly. [L. terribilisterrēre, to frighten.]

British National Corpus

  1. Spoken Corpus Frequency

    Rank popularity for the word 'terrible' in Spoken Corpus Frequency: #2583

  2. Written Corpus Frequency

    Rank popularity for the word 'terrible' in Written Corpus Frequency: #932

  3. Adjectives Frequency

    Rank popularity for the word 'terrible' in Adjectives Frequency: #287

How to pronounce terrible?

How to say terrible in sign language?

Numerology

  1. Chaldean Numerology

    The numerical value of terrible in Chaldean Numerology is: 6

  2. Pythagorean Numerology

    The numerical value of terrible in Pythagorean Numerology is: 8

Examples of terrible in a Sentence

  1. Cardinal Marx:

    Files that could have documented the terrible deeds and named those responsible were destroyed or not even created, the stipulated procedures and processes for the prosecution offenses were deliberately not complied with... such standard practices will make it clear that it is not transparency which damages Catholic Church, but rather the acts of abuse committed, the lack of transparency, or the ensuing coverup.

  2. Shannon Watts:

    Amy Coney Barrett's alarming interpretation of the Second Amendment would make her an ideal Supreme Court Justice for the The NRA, but a terrible one for the safety of the American people, giving her a lifetime appointment on The Supreme Court will make us all less safe.

  3. Tom Steyer:

    We are looking at a party that has decided that we're either going to support someone who is a democratic socialist or somebody who has a long history of being a Republican, i am scared, if we cannot pull this party together, if we go to one of those extremes, we take a terrible risk of re-electing Donald Trump.

  4. Republican Senate Leader Mitch McConnell:

    The whole Middle East is in terrible shape.

  5. Lola Daehler:

    I'm very happy I got to the lake, i get to wake up and swim and not be in New York City, which seems pretty terrible right now.

Popularity rank by frequency of use

terrible#1#6918#10000

Translations for terrible

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"terrible." Definitions.net. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 27 Apr. 2024. <https://www.definitions.net/definition/terrible>.

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