Dictionary

terrible

Etymology

From Middle English terrible, from Old French terrible, from Latin terribilis, from terreō.

Pronunciation

(British, America) IPA: /ˈtɛɹəbəl/, /ˈtɛɹɪbəl/
(America, dialectal, archaic) IPA: /ˈtɝbəl/, /ˈtɛɚbəl/

Adjective

terrible (comparative terribler, superlative terriblest)

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.
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.
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?
Unpleasant; disagreeable.
The food was terrible, but it was free.
- 1918, W[illiam] B[abington] 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.
Very bad; lousy.
Whatever he thinks, he is a terrible driver.