adjective
terrible
TAIR-uh-buhl/ˈterəbl/
Extremely bad, severe, or unpleasant.
The woman finds the badly burnt toast terrible.
Etymology
Terrible originally described something capable of causing fear or dread. Its force weakened through meanings such as “severe” or “unendurable,” eventually allowing it to describe something merely very bad or unpleasant.
In context
A terrible, terrible inconvenience, I'm aware, but we all must find a way to cope.
More examples
- I made a terrible mistake on the form.
- The room had a terrible smell.
- She felt terrible about missing his birthday.
Forms
terrible
terribly adverb — Very badly or to a great degree
Similar words
- awful
- A common alternative, often less formal in ordinary complaints.
- dreadful
- Similarly strong disapproval, sometimes with a more formal tone.