Terrible
Pronunciation
- UK IPA: /ˈtɛ.ɹə.bl̩/, ˈtɛ.ɹɪ.bl̩/
Origin
From French, from Latin terribilis ("frightful"), from terrere ("to frighten"). Compare terror, deter.
Full definition of terrible
Adjective
terrible
- Dreadful; causing alarm and fear.The witch gave him a terrible curse.
- Formidable, powerful.
- 1883: Robert Louis Stevenson, Treasure Island...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.
- 1963, Margery Allingham, The China Governess Chapter 18, ‘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?
- He paid a terrible price for his life of drinking.
- Unpleasant; disagreeable.
- 1918, W. B. Maxwell, The Mirror and the Lamp Chapter 12, To Edward … he was terrible, nerve-inflaming, poisonously asphyxiating. He sat rocking himself in the late Mr. Churchill's swing chair, smoking and twaddling.
- The food was terrible, but it was free.
- Very bad; lousy.
- 2012, April 26, Tasha Robinson, Film: Reviews: The Pirates! Band Of Misfits, 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.
- Whatever he thinks, he is a terrible driver.