terrible

Inherited from Middle English terrible, from Old French terrible, from Latin terribilis (“frightful”), from terreō (“I frighten, terrify, alarm; I deter by terror, scare (away)”). Compare terror, deter. By surface analysis, terror +‎ -ible.

• (UK, US) IPA^(key): /ˈtɛɹəbəl/, /ˈtɛɹɪbəl/
• (US, dialectal, archaic) IPA^(key): /ˈtɝbəl/, /ˈtɛɚbəl/^[1][2]

• Audio (US):

  (file)

• Audio (Southern England):

  (file)

• Homophone: tearable (with /ə/ and merry-Mary merger)

terrible (comparative terribler or more terrible, superlative terriblest or most terrible)

1. Dreadful; causing terror, alarm and fear; awesome

   The witch laid a terrible curse on him.

   • 1950, C. S. Lewis, The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe:

     People who have not been in Narnia sometimes think that a thing cannot be good and terrible at the same time. If the children had ever thought so, they were cured of it now. For when they tried to look at Aslan's face they just caught a glimpse of the golden mane and the great, royal, solemn, overwhelming eyes; and then they found they couldn't look at him and went all trembly.

2. Formidable, powerful.
   • 1881–1882, Robert Louis Stevenson, Treasure Island, London; Paris: Cassell & Company, published 14 November 1883, →OCLC:

     […] and there was even a party of the younger men who pretended to admire him, calling him a "true sea-dog," and "real old salt," and such-like names, and saying there was the sort of man that made England terrible at sea.

   • 1886, Peter Christen Asbjørnsen, translated by H.L. Brækstad, Folk and Fairy Tales, page 96:

     "He is the right sort of man for a labourer, but he is a terrible eater, to be sure," thought the farmer.

3. Intense; extreme in degree or extent.

   He paid a terrible price for his life of drinking.

   • 1963, Margery Allingham, chapter 18, in The China Governess: A Mystery, London: Chatto & Windus, →OCLC:

     ‘Then the father has a great fight with his terrible conscience,’ said Munday with granite seriousness. ‘Should he make a row with the police […] ? Or should he say nothing about it and condone brutality for fear of appearing in the newspapers?

4. Unpleasant; disagreeable.

   The food was terrible, but it was free.

   • 1918, W B Maxwell, chapter XII, in The Mirror and the Lamp, Indianapolis, Ind.: The Bobbs-Merrill Company, →OCLC:

     To Edward […] he was terrible, nerve-inflaming, poisonously asphyxiating. He sat rocking himself in the late Mr. Churchill's swing chair, smoking and twaddling.

5. Very bad; lousy.

   Whatever he thinks, he is a terrible driver.

   • 2012 April 26, Tasha Robinson, “Film: Reviews: The Pirates! Band Of Misfits”, in The Onion AV Club:

     The openly ridiculous plot has The Pirate Captain (Hugh Grant) scheming to win the Pirate Of The Year competition, even though he’s a terrible pirate, far outclassed by rivals voiced by Jeremy Piven and Salma Hayek.

• See also Thesaurus:frightening

• (antonym(s) of “very bad”): excellent

terrible (comparative more terrible, superlative most terrible)

1. (colloquial, dialect) In a terrible way; to a terrible extent; terribly; awfully.
   • 1908, Kenneth Grahame, The Wind in the Willows, Ware: Wordsworth Classics, published 1993, page 59:

     ‘Oh, terrible bad, sir, terrible deep the snow is,’ said the hedgehog.

• “terrible”, in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam, 1913, →OCLC.
• “terrible”, in The Century Dictionary , New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., 1911, →OCLC.

• treblier

(Can this⁽⁺⁾ etymology be sourced?) Borrowed from Latin terribilis.

This entry needs an audio pronunciation. If you are a native speaker with a microphone, please record this word. The recorded pronunciation will appear here when it's ready.

• IPA^(key): (Central, Balearic)
• IPA^(key): (Valencia)

terrible m or f (masculine and feminine plural terribles)

1. terrible (causing fear)
2. terrible (formidable, intense)

   (Can we add an example for this sense?)

• “terrible” in Diccionari de la llengua catalana, segona edició, Institut d’Estudis Catalans.

(Can this⁽⁺⁾ etymology be sourced?) Inherited from Spanish terrible.

This entry needs an audio pronunciation. If you are a native speaker with a microphone, please record this word. The recorded pronunciation will appear here when it's ready.

• IPA^(key): /teˈrible/,

• IPA^(key): /teˈɾibli/, (Ternateño)
• Hyphenation: te‧rri‧ble

terrible

1. terrible

   (Can we add an example for this sense?)

Inherited from Middle French terrible, inherited from Old French terrible (first attested ca. 1160), borrowed from Latin terribilis.

• IPA^(key): /tɛ.ʁibl/ ~ /te.ʁibl/

• Audio:

  (file)

terrible (plural terribles)

1. (all senses) terrible
   • 1837, Louis Viardot, L’Ingénieux Hidalgo Don Quichotte de la Manche‎^{fr.Wikisource}, translation of El ingenioso hidalgo Don Quijote de la Mancha by Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra, Chapter II:

     Mais à peine se vit-il en chemin qu’une pensée terrible l’assaillit, et telle, que peu s’en fallut qu’elle ne lui fît abandonner l’entreprise commencée.

     But scarcely did he see himself on the road when a terrible thought assaulted him, and such that little was missing to make him abandon the enterprise he had started.

2. (colloquial) great, excellent

   (Can we add an example for this sense?)

• enfant terrible m

• terreur f
• terriblement
• terrifier

• → Romanian: teribil

• “terrible”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé , 2012.

Borrowed from Latin terribilis (first attested ca. 1160).

This entry needs pronunciation information. If you are familiar with the IPA then please add some!

terrible m (oblique and nominative feminine singular terriblee)

1. terrible

   (Can we add an example for this sense?)

terrible oblique singular, m or f (oblique plural terribles, nominative singular terribles, nominative plural terrible)

1. terrible

   (Can we add an example for this sense?)

• Middle French: terrible
  • French: terrible
    • → Romanian: teribil
• → Middle English: terrible
  • English: terrible

• “terrible”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé , 2012.

Borrowed from Latin terribilis. Cognate with English terrible.

• IPA^(key): /teˈrible/

• Audio (Peru):

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ible
• Syllabification: te‧rri‧ble

terrible m or f (masculine and feminine plural terribles)

1. terrible, awful, horrible (very bad)
2. appalling (shocking, causing consternation)

   (Can we add an example for this sense?)

3. terrific (very great or intense)

   Los jóvenes de hoy en día están bajo estrés terrible.

   Today's young people are under terrific stress.

• Chavacano: terrible

• “terrible”, in Diccionario de la lengua española [Dictionary of the Spanish Language] (in Spanish), online version 23.8, Royal Spanish Academy [Spanish: Real Academia Española], 2024 December 10