Adjacent Words

Terrible definitions

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Webster's 1828 Dictionary

TER'RIBLE, a. [L. terribilis, from terreo, to frighten.]
1. Frightful; adapted to excite terror; dreadful; formidable.
Prudent in peace, and terrible in war.
The form of the image was terrible. Daniel 2.
2. Adapted to impress dread, terror or solemn awe and reverence.
The Lord thy God is among you, a mighty God and terrible. Deutoronomy 7.
Let them praise thy great and terrible name, for it is holy. Psalms 99.
He hath done for thee these great and terrible things, which thine eyes have seen. Deutoronomy 10.
3. adv. Severely; very; so as to give pain; as terrible cold; a colloquial phrase.

WordNet (r) 3.0 (2005)

adj
1: 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" [syn: awful, dire, direful, dread, dreaded, dreadful, fearful, fearsome, frightening, horrendous, horrific, terrible]
2: 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" [syn: atrocious, abominable, awful, dreadful, painful, terrible, unspeakable]
3: 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" [syn: severe, terrible, wicked]
4: extreme in degree or extent or amount or impact; "in a frightful hurry"; "spent a frightful amount of money" [syn: frightful, terrible, awful, tremendous]

Merriam Webster's

adjective Etymology: Middle English, from Middle French, from Latin terribilis, from terr?re to frighten — more at terror Date: 15th century 1. a. exciting extreme alarm or intense fear ; terrifying b. formidable in nature ; awesome <a terrible responsibility> c. difficult <in a terrible bind> 2. extreme, great <a terrible disappointment> 3. extremely bad: as a. strongly repulsive ; obnoxious <a terrible smell> b. notably unattractive or objectionable <terrible behavior> c. of very poor quality <a terrible movie> • terribleness noun • terribly adverb

Oxford Reference Dictionary

adj. 1 colloq. very great or bad (a terrible bore). 2 colloq. very incompetent (terrible at tennis). 3 causing terror; fit to cause terror; awful, dreadful, formidable. Derivatives: terribleness n. Etymology: ME f. F f. L terribilis f. terrere frighten

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Terrible Ter"ri*ble, a. [F., fr. L. terribilis, fr. terrere to frighten. See Terror.] 1. Adapted or likely to excite terror, awe, or dread; dreadful; formidable. Prudent in peace, and terrible in war. --Prior. Thou shalt not be affrighted at them; for the Lord thy God is among you, a mighty God and terrible. --Deut. vii. 21. 2. Excessive; extreme; severe. [Colloq.] The terrible coldness of the season. --Clarendon. Syn: Terrific; fearful; frightful; formidable; dreadful; horrible; shocking; awful. -- Ter"ri*ble*ness, n. -- Ter"ri*bly, adv.

Collin's Cobuild Dictionary

Frequency: The word is one of the 1500 most common words in English. 1. A terrible experience or situation is very serious or very unpleasant. Tens of thousands more suffered terrible injuries in the world's worst industrial disaster... I often have the most terrible nightmares... = dreadful ADJ • terribly My son has suffered terribly. He has lost his best friend. ADV: ADV after v 2. If something is terrible, it is very bad or of very poor quality. She admits her French is terrible. = dreadful ADJ 3. You use terrible to emphasize the great extent or degree of something. I was a terrible fool, you know. I remember that now... ADJ: ADJ n [emphasis] • terribly I'm terribly sorry to bother you at this hour... ADV: usu ADV adj

Soule's Dictionary of English Synonyms

a. 1. Frightful, horrible, dreadful, formidable, fearful, terrific, dire, tremendous, shocking, grewsome, horrid, hideous. 2. Awful, awe-inspiring, dreadful, dread. 3. (Colloq.) Excessive, extreme, severe, great.

Moby Thesaurus

aberrant, abnormal, abominable, acute, alarming, appalling, arduous, arrant, ashamed, astounding, atrocious, awe-inspiring, awesome, awful, bad, baneful, base, beastly, beneath contempt, blameworthy, brutal, concentrated, conscience-stricken, contemptible, contrite, criminal, deadly, delinquent, deplorable, desperate, despicable, detestable, deviant, difficult, dire, direful, disagreeable, disgraceful, disgusting, distressed, distressing, dread, dreaded, dreadful, egregious, enormous, evil, exquisite, fearful, fearsome, fell, fetid, fierce, filthy, flagrant, forbidding, formidable, foul, frightening, frightful, fulsome, furious, ghastly, ghoulish, gory, grave, grievous, grim, grisly, gross, grotesque, gruesome, guilty, hardly the thing, harrowing, hateful, heavy, heinous, hideous, horrendous, horrible, horrid, horrific, horrifying, howling, ignominious, illegal, improper, inappropriate, incorrect, indecorous, infamous, intolerable, joyless, laborious, lamentable, loathsome, lousy, macabre, mephitic, miserable, monstrous, morbid, nasty, nauseating, nauseous, nefarious, noisome, not done, not the thing, notorious, noxious, obnoxious, odious, off-base, off-color, offensive, out-of-line, outrageous, pitiable, pitiful, rank, redoubtable, regretful, regrettable, remorseful, repelling, reprehensible, repugnant, repulsive, revolting, rotten, rousing, rueful, sacrilegious, sad, savage, scandalous, schlock, schrecklich, scurvy, serious, severe, shabby, shameful, shameless, shocking, shoddy, sinful, sordid, sorry, squalid, strenuous, terrible, terrific, terrifying, thumping, toilsome, too bad, tough, tragic, tremendous, unbearable, unclean, undue, unfit, unfitting, unfortunate, unhappy, unlawful, unpleasant, unrighteous, unseemly, unspeakable, unsuitable, vehement, vicious, vile, villainous, violent, whacking, wicked, woeful, worst, worthless, wretched, wrong, wrongful