adj
Meaning 1
Dreadful; causing terror, alarm and fear; awesome
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Examples
- The witch laid a terrible curse on him.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
Standard Lemma guide
terrible
Definitions and examples are grouped by meaning. Pronunciation, history, word forms, translations, descendants, synonyms, antonyms, derived terms, and related words appear whenever the source provides them.
Sound
Pronunciation
Each Play button uses your device's default local English voice, or a natural local fallback. The selected voice name appears after playback. This is synthesized speech, not a source recording.
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Canada, General-American, Received-Pronunciation: /ˈtɛɹəbəl/
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Canada, General-American, Received-Pronunciation: [ˈtɛɹəbl̩]
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Canada, General-American, Received-Pronunciation: /ˈtɛɹɪbəl/
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Canada, General-American, Received-Pronunciation: [ˈtɛɹɪbl̩]
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Southern-England: Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.
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US: Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.
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Australian, New-Zealand: /ˈteɹəbəl/
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Scotland, Wales: /ˈtɛɾəbəl/
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Scotland, Wales: /ˈtɛɾɪbəl/
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US, archaic, dialectal: /ˈtɝ.bəl/
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US, archaic, dialectal: /ˈtɛɚ.bəl/
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homophone: tearable (with /ə/ and the Mary–marry–merry merger)
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CMU ARPABET: T EH1 R AH0 B AH0 L Digits mark lexical stress: 1 primary, 2 secondary, 0 unstressed.
adj
Meaning 2
Formidable, powerful.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
adj
Meaning 3
Intense; extreme in degree or extent.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Examples
- He paid a terrible price for his life of drinking.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
adj
Meaning 4
Very unpleasant; disagreeable.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Examples
- The food was terrible, but it was free.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
adj
Meaning 5
Very bad; lousy.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Examples
- Whatever he thinks, he is a terrible driver.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
adj
Meaning 6
Prone to a particular temptation.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Usage: Ireland, especially
Examples
- He's a terrible man for beer.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: awful
Antonyms: none provided
adv
Meaning 7
In a terrible way; to a terrible extent; terribly; awfully.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Usage: colloquial, dialectal
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
adjective satellite
Meaning 8
causing fear or dread or terror
Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0
Examples
- 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
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: awful, dire, direful, dread(a), dreaded, dreadful, fearful, fearsome, frightening, horrendous, horrific
Antonyms: none provided
adjective satellite
Meaning 9
exceptionally bad or displeasing
Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0
Examples
- atrocious taste
- abominable workmanship
- an awful voice
- dreadful manners
- a painful performance
- terrible handwriting
- an unspeakable odor came sweeping into the room
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: atrocious, abominable, awful, dreadful, painful, unspeakable
Antonyms: none provided
adjective satellite
Meaning 10
intensely or extremely bad or unpleasant in degree or quality
Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0
Examples
- severe pain
- a severe case of flu
- a terrible cough
- under wicked fire from the enemy's guns
- a wicked cough
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: severe, wicked
Antonyms: none provided
adjective satellite
Meaning 11
extreme in degree or extent or amount or impact
Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0
Examples
- in a frightful hurry
- spent a frightful amount of money
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: frightful, awful, tremendous
Antonyms: none provided
History
Etymology
Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *tres- Proto-Indo-European *-yeti Proto-Indo-European *-éyeti Proto-Indo-European *troséyeti Proto-Italic *trozeō Latin terreō Proto-Indo-European *-tḗr Proto-Indo-European *-dhlom Proto-Indo-European *-dhlis Proto-Italic *-ðlis Latin -bilis Latin terribilislbor. Old French terriblebor. Middle English terrible English terrible Inherited from Middle English terrible, from Old French terrible, from Latin terribilis (“frightful”), from terreō (“to frighten, terrify, alarm; to deter by terror, scare (away)”). Compare terror, deter. By surface analysis, terror + -ible. Displaced Old English atol and sliþe, while also largely overtaking grimm.
Across languages
Translations
238 source translations are retained for this English entry.
- Arabic: فَظِيع (faẓīʕ) — dreadful; causing alarm or fear
- Armenian: ահավոր (ahavor) — dreadful; causing alarm or fear
- Azerbaijani: qorxunc — dreadful; causing alarm or fear
- Azerbaijani: dəhşətli — dreadful; causing alarm or fear
- Azerbaijani: müdhiş — dreadful; causing alarm or fear
- Azerbaijani: vahiməli — dreadful; causing alarm or fear
- Belarusian: жуда́сны (žudásny) — dreadful; causing alarm or fear
- Belarusian: стра́шны (strášny) — dreadful; causing alarm or fear
- Belarusian: жахлі́вы (žaxlívy) — dreadful; causing alarm or fear
- Bulgarian: ужа́сен (užásen) — dreadful; causing alarm or fear
- Bulgarian: стра́шен (strášen) — dreadful; causing alarm or fear
- Bulgarian: страхо́тен (strahóten) — dreadful; causing alarm or fear
- Catalan: terrible — dreadful; causing alarm or fear
- Chinese Mandarin: 詭異的 /诡异的 — dreadful; causing alarm or fear
- Chinese Mandarin: 可怕的 (kěpà) — dreadful; causing alarm or fear
- Chinese Mandarin: 夠嗆 /够呛 (gòuqiàng) — dreadful; causing alarm or fear
- Chinese Mandarin: 嚇人的 /吓人的 (xiàrén de) — dreadful; causing alarm or fear
- Czech: hrozný — dreadful; causing alarm or fear
- Czech: strašný — dreadful; causing alarm or fear
- Danish: frygtelig — dreadful; causing alarm or fear
- Dutch: afschuwelijk — dreadful; causing alarm or fear
- Dutch: verschrikkelijk — dreadful; causing alarm or fear
- Esperanto: terura — dreadful; causing alarm or fear
- Estonian: kohutav — dreadful; causing alarm or fear
- Finnish: pelottava — dreadful; causing alarm or fear
- Finnish: kamala — dreadful; causing alarm or fear
- Finnish: kauhea — dreadful; causing alarm or fear
- Finnish: hirveä — dreadful; causing alarm or fear
- Finnish: hirvittävä — dreadful; causing alarm or fear
- French: terrible — dreadful; causing alarm or fear
- French: horrible — dreadful; causing alarm or fear
- French: épouvantable — dreadful; causing alarm or fear
- Georgian: საშინელი (sašineli) — dreadful; causing alarm or fear
- Georgian: საზარელი (sazareli) — dreadful; causing alarm or fear
- German: schrecklich — dreadful; causing alarm or fear
- Gothic: 𐌰𐌲𐌹𐍃𐌻𐌴𐌹𐌺𐍃 (agisleiks) — dreadful; causing alarm or fear
- Greek: τρομερός (tromerós) — dreadful; causing alarm or fear
- Greek: φοβερός (foverós) — dreadful; causing alarm or fear
- Greek: φρικτός (friktós) — dreadful; causing alarm or fear
- Ancient Greek: φοβερός (phoberós) — dreadful; causing alarm or fear
- Ancient Greek: δεινός (deinós) — dreadful; causing alarm or fear
- Ancient Greek: γοργός (gorgós) — dreadful; causing alarm or fear
- Hebrew: נורא — dreadful; causing alarm or fear
- Hebrew: איום — dreadful; causing alarm or fear
- Higaonon: makuyaw — dreadful; causing alarm or fear
- Hindi: भयंकर (bhayaṅkar) — dreadful; causing alarm or fear
- Hindi: भयानक (bhayānak) — dreadful; causing alarm or fear
- Hungarian: borzasztó — dreadful; causing alarm or fear
- Hungarian: rettenetes — dreadful; causing alarm or fear
- Hungarian: szörnyű — dreadful; causing alarm or fear
- Hungarian: borzalmas — dreadful; causing alarm or fear
- Hungarian: rettentő — dreadful; causing alarm or fear
- Icelandic: hræðilegur — dreadful; causing alarm or fear
- Irish: uafásach — dreadful; causing alarm or fear
- Italian: terribile — dreadful; causing alarm or fear
- Japanese: 恐ろしい (osoroshii) — dreadful; causing alarm or fear
- Japanese: 酷い (hidoi) — dreadful; causing alarm or fear
- Kazakh: шошырлық (şoşyrlyq) — dreadful; causing alarm or fear
- Korean: 끔찍하다 (kkeumjjikhada) — dreadful; causing alarm or fear
- Latin: terribilis — dreadful; causing alarm or fear
- Latin: dīrus — dreadful; causing alarm or fear
- Latvian: šausmīgs — dreadful; causing alarm or fear
- Macedonian: ужасен (užasen) — dreadful; causing alarm or fear
- Macedonian: страшен (strašen) — dreadful; causing alarm or fear
- Navajo: hóyééʼ — dreadful; causing alarm or fear
- Norwegian: fryktelig — dreadful; causing alarm or fear
- Norwegian: forferdelig — dreadful; causing alarm or fear
- Persian: وحشتناک (vahšatnâk) — dreadful; causing alarm or fear
- Plautdietsch: schrakjlich — dreadful; causing alarm or fear
- Plautdietsch: jräsich — dreadful; causing alarm or fear
- Polish: straszny — dreadful; causing alarm or fear
- Polish: straszliwy — dreadful; causing alarm or fear
- Polish: okropny — dreadful; causing alarm or fear
- Polish: przerażający — dreadful; causing alarm or fear
- Portuguese: terrível — dreadful; causing alarm or fear
- Romanian: groaznic — dreadful; causing alarm or fear
- Romanian: teribil — dreadful; causing alarm or fear
- Russian: ужа́сный (užásnyj) — dreadful; causing alarm or fear
- Russian: стра́шный (strášnyj) — dreadful; causing alarm or fear
- Russian: жу́ткий (žútkij) — dreadful; causing alarm or fear
- Sanskrit: भीष्म (bhīṣma) — dreadful; causing alarm or fear
- Sanskrit: घोर (ghora) — dreadful; causing alarm or fear
- Scots: bowkin — dreadful; causing alarm or fear
- Scottish Gaelic: sgriosail — dreadful; causing alarm or fear
- Serbo-Croatian: у̏жа̄сан — dreadful; causing alarm or fear
- Serbo-Croatian: стра́шан — dreadful; causing alarm or fear
- Serbo-Croatian: ȕžāsan — dreadful; causing alarm or fear
- Serbo-Croatian: strášan — dreadful; causing alarm or fear
- Slovak: hrozný — dreadful; causing alarm or fear
- Slovak: strašný — dreadful; causing alarm or fear
- Slovene: grozen — dreadful; causing alarm or fear
- Southern Altai: коркунчылу (korkunčïlu) — dreadful; causing alarm or fear
- Spanish: terrible — dreadful; causing alarm or fear
- Swedish: fruktansvärd — dreadful; causing alarm or fear
- Swedish: hemsk — dreadful; causing alarm or fear
- Tatar: имәнеч (imäneç) — dreadful; causing alarm or fear
- Tocharian B: empele — dreadful; causing alarm or fear
- Turkish: korkunç — dreadful; causing alarm or fear
- Turkish: dehşet — dreadful; causing alarm or fear
- Turkish: feci — dreadful; causing alarm or fear
- Ukrainian: жахли́вий (žaxlývyj) — dreadful; causing alarm or fear
- Ukrainian: страшни́й (strašnýj) — dreadful; causing alarm or fear
- Vietnamese: khủng khiếp — dreadful; causing alarm or fear
- Welsh: ofnadwy — dreadful; causing alarm or fear
- Yakut: ынырык (ïnïrïk) — dreadful; causing alarm or fear
- Yiddish: שרעקלעך (shreklekh) — dreadful; causing alarm or fear
- Arabic: مُرْعِب (murʕib) — most formidable
- Armenian: ահեղ (aheġ) — most formidable
- Azerbaijani: zəhmli — most formidable
- Belarusian: гро́зны (hrózny) — most formidable
- Bulgarian: страхо́тен (strahóten) — most formidable
- Bulgarian: страхови́т (strahovít) — most formidable
- Catalan: terrible — most formidable
- Chinese Mandarin: 厲害 /厉害 (lìhài) — most formidable
- Chinese Mandarin: 利害 (lìhài) — most formidable
- Chinese Mandarin: 厉害 (lìhài) — most formidable
- Chinese Mandarin: 利害 (lìhai) — most formidable
- Chinese Mandarin: 猛烈 (měngliè) — most formidable
- Czech: hrozivý — most formidable
- Czech: hrozný — most formidable
- Finnish: mahtava — most formidable
- Finnish: kauhistuttava — most formidable
- French: terrible — most formidable
- Greek: τρομερός (tromerós) — most formidable
- Greek: φοβερός (foverós) — most formidable
- Greek: δεινός (deinós) — most formidable
- Norwegian: fryktelig — most formidable
- Norwegian: forferdelig — most formidable
- Polish: groźny — most formidable
- Portuguese: formidável — most formidable
- Romanian: groaznic — most formidable
- Russian: гро́зный (gróznyj) — most formidable
- Slovak: hrozný — most formidable
- Turkish: müthiş — most formidable
- Ukrainian: грі́зний (hríznyj) — most formidable
- Yakut: ынырык (ïnïrïk) — most formidable
- Arabic: مُرْعِب (murʕib) — intense; extreme in degree or extent
- Catalan: terrible — intense; extreme in degree or extent
- Finnish: kamala — intense; extreme in degree or extent
- Finnish: kauhea — intense; extreme in degree or extent
- Finnish: hirveä — intense; extreme in degree or extent
- Finnish: hirvittävä — intense; extreme in degree or extent
- French: terrible — intense; extreme in degree or extent
- French: épouvantable — intense; extreme in degree or extent
- Greek: φρικτός (friktós) — intense; extreme in degree or extent
- Greek: δεινός (deinós) — intense; extreme in degree or extent
- Ancient Greek: δεινός (deinós) — intense; extreme in degree or extent
- Hindi: विकराल (vikrāl) — intense; extreme in degree or extent
- Japanese: 極端な (kyokutan na) — intense; extreme in degree or extent
- Malayalam: ഭയങ്കര (bhayaṅkara) — intense; extreme in degree or extent
- Norwegian: fryktelig — intense; extreme in degree or extent
- Norwegian: forferdelig — intense; extreme in degree or extent
- Polish: straszny — intense; extreme in degree or extent
- Portuguese: terrível — intense; extreme in degree or extent
- Romanian: groaznic — intense; extreme in degree or extent
- Romanian: impresionant — intense; extreme in degree or extent
- Russian: ужа́сный (užásnyj) — intense; extreme in degree or extent
- Tagalog: matindi — intense; extreme in degree or extent
- Turkish: korkunç — intense; extreme in degree or extent
- Turkish: fahiş — intense; extreme in degree or extent
- Turkish: feci — intense; extreme in degree or extent
- Arabic: فَظِيع (faẓīʕ) — very unpleasant
- Arabic: أَرْبَد (ʔarbad) — very unpleasant
- Finnish: kamala — very unpleasant
- Finnish: kauhea — very unpleasant
- Finnish: hirveä — very unpleasant
- Finnish: hirvittävä — very unpleasant
- French: épouvantable — very unpleasant
- French: horrible — very unpleasant
- German: furchtbar — very unpleasant
- Greek: απαίσιος (apaísios) — very unpleasant
- Greek: φρικτός (friktós) — very unpleasant
- Hindi: भयावह (bhayāvah) — very unpleasant
- Hungarian: szörnyű — very unpleasant
- Hungarian: borzalmas — very unpleasant
- Hungarian: borzasztó — very unpleasant
- Norwegian: ubehagelig — very unpleasant
- Polish: okropny — very unpleasant
- Portuguese: terrível — very unpleasant
- Portuguese: horrível — very unpleasant
- Romanian: groaznic — very unpleasant
- Romanian: înspăimântător — very unpleasant
- Russian: ужа́сный (užásnyj) — very unpleasant
- Scottish Gaelic: sgriosail — very unpleasant
- Spanish: horrible — very unpleasant
- Tamil: கேவலம் (kēvalam) — very unpleasant
- Tamil: கண்றாவி (kaṇṟāvi) — very unpleasant
- Tamil: மோசம் (mōcam) — very unpleasant
- Tamil: மட்டம் (maṭṭam) — very unpleasant
- Turkish: korkunç — very unpleasant
- Turkish: felaket — very unpleasant
- Arabic: فَظِيع (faẓīʕ) — very bad
- Arabic: أَرْبَد (ʔarbad) — very bad
- Armenian: ահավոր (ahavor) — very bad
- Chinese Mandarin: 糟糕的 — very bad
- Chinese Mandarin: 太壞了 /太坏了 — very bad
- Esperanto: aĉa — very bad
- Finnish: kamala — very bad
- Finnish: kauhea — very bad
- Finnish: hirveä — very bad
- Finnish: hirvittävä — very bad
- French: terrible — very bad
- French: épouvantable — very bad
- German: furchtbar — very bad
- German: miserabel — very bad
- Greek: απαίσιος (apaísios) — very bad
- Greek: φρικτός (friktós) — very bad
- Greek: κάκιστος (kákistos) — very bad
- Hebrew: נורא (norá) — very bad
- Hebrew: נוראי (noraí) — very bad
- Hebrew: גרוע (garúa) — very bad
- Hungarian: rémes — very bad
- Hungarian: borzalmas — very bad
- Hungarian: szörnyű — very bad
- Japanese: 酷い (hidoi) — very bad
- Japanese: 惨憺たる (santan taru) — very bad
- Malayalam: ദാരുണ (dāruṇa) — very bad
- Norwegian: fryktelig — very bad
- Norwegian: forferdelig — very bad
- Polish: okropny — very bad
- Polish: kiepski — very bad
- Portuguese: terrível — very bad
- Portuguese: horrível — very bad
- Romanian: îngrozitor — very bad
- Romanian: înspăimântător — very bad
- Russian: ужа́сный (užásnyj) — very bad
- Scottish Gaelic: sgriosail — very bad
- Spanish: horrible — very bad
- Spanish: infumable — very bad
- Tamil: கேவலம் (kēvalam) — very bad
- Tamil: கண்றாவி (kaṇṟāvi) — very bad
- Tamil: மோசம் (mōcam) — very bad
- Tamil: மட்டம் (maṭṭam) — very bad
- Thai: แย่ (yɛ̂ɛ) — very bad
- Thai: ไม่ดีเลย (mâi dee loie) — very bad
- Turkish: korkunç — very bad
- Turkish: berbat — very bad
- Turkish: feci — very bad
Real reading context