adjective
- Causing fear or dread or terror.
- usage: "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"
- Exceptionally bad or displeasing.
- usage: "atrocious taste"; "abominable workmanship"; "an awful voice"; "dreadful manners"; "a painful performance"; "terrible handwriting"; "an unspeakable odor came sweeping into the room"
- synonyms: atrocious, abominable, awful, dreadful, painful, unspeakable
- Intensely or extremely bad or unpleasant in degree or quality.
- usage: "severe pain"; "a severe case of flu"; "a terrible cough"; "under wicked fire from the enemy's guns"; "a wicked cough"
- Extreme in degree or extent or amount or impact.
- usage: "in a frightful hurry"; "spent a frightful amount of money"
- synonyms: frightful, awful, tremendous
WordNet 3.0 © 2006 by Princeton University
| APA | WordNet. (2010). terrible. Retrieved September 20, 2026, from http://smartdefine.org/terrible/definitions/1185208 |
| Chicago | WordNet. 2010. "terrible" http://smartdefine.org/terrible/definitions/1185208 (accessed September 20, 2026). |
| Harvard | WordNet 2010, terrible, Smart Define, viewed 20 September, 2026, <http://smartdefine.org/terrible/definitions/1185208>. |
| MLA | WordNet. "terrible" 23 October 2010. Web. 20 September 2026. <http://smartdefine.org/terrible/definitions/1185208> |