Meaning of terrible in English

Table of contents
  1. Pronunciation
  2. Classifying Adjective
    1. Definitions

  1. Pronunciation

    /ˈtɛrəb(ə)l/

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    UK accent

  1. Classifying Adjective

    terrible

    Definitions

    1. causing fear or dread or terror

    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 »
    • « »

    Synonyms

  2. 2. exceptionally bad or displeasing

    Examples

    • « atrocious taste »
    • « abominable workmanship »
    • « an awful voice »
    • « dreadful manners »
    • « a painful performance »
    • « terrible handwriting »
    • « an unspeakable odor came sweeping into the room »

    Synonyms

  3. 3. intensely or extremely bad or unpleasant in degree or quality

    Examples

    • « severe pain »
    • « a severe case of flu »
    • « a terrible cough »
    • « under wicked fire from the enemy's guns »
    • « a wicked cough »

    Synonyms

  4. 4. extremely distressing

    Examples

    • « fearful slum conditions »
    • « a frightful mistake »
    • « suffered terrible thirst »

    Synonyms

Famous quotes

  • « Beauty is mysterious as well as terrible. God and devil are fighting there, and the battlefield is the heart of man. »
    Fyodor Dostoevsky
  • « The pool is terrible, but that doesn't have much to do with my record swims. That's all mental attitude. »
    Mark Spitz
  • « I used to be good with kids, but as I get older, I'm grumpy and terrible with them. As for doing a gig at a 6-year old's birthday party, you couldn't pay me enough. »
    Johnny Vegas
  • « You just have to keep trying to do good work, and hope that it leads to more good work. I want to look back on my career and be proud of the work, and be proud that I tried everything. Yes, I want to look back and know that I was terrible at a variety of things. »
    Jon Stewart
  • « The vote is the most powerful instrument ever devised by man for breaking down injustice and destroying the terrible walls which imprison men because they are different from other men. »
    Lyndon B. Johnson

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