| / English Dictionary |
TERRIBLE
| Pronunciation (US): |  | (GB): | |
I. (adjective)
Sense 1
Meaning:
Causing fear or dread or terror
Example:
a terrible curse
Synonyms:
awful; dire; direful; dread; dreaded; dreadful; fearful; fearsome; frightening; horrendous; horrific; terrible
Classified under:
Similar:
alarming (frightening because of an awareness of danger)
Derivation:
terribleness (a quality of extreme unpleasantness)
Sense 2
Meaning:
Exceptionally bad or displeasing
Example:
an unspeakable odor came sweeping into the room
Synonyms:
abominable; atrocious; awful; dreadful; painful; terrible; unspeakable
Classified under:
Similar:
bad (having undesirable or negative qualities)
Derivation:
terribleness (a quality of extreme unpleasantness)
Sense 3
Meaning:
Intensely or extremely bad or unpleasant in degree or quality
Example:
a wicked cough
Synonyms:
Classified under:
Adjectives
Similar:
intense (possessing or displaying a distinctive feature to a heightened degree)
Derivation:
terribleness (a quality of extreme unpleasantness)
Sense 4
Meaning:
Extreme in degree or extent or amount or impact
Example:
spent a frightful amount of money
Synonyms:
awful; frightful; terrible; tremendous
Classified under:
Adjectives
Similar:
extraordinary (beyond what is ordinary or usual; highly unusual or exceptional or remarkable)
Domain usage:
colloquialism (a colloquial expression; characteristic of spoken or written communication that seeks to imitate informal speech)
Derivation:
terribleness (a quality of extreme unpleasantness)
Context examples:
Before, I had only imagined the wretchedness of my desolated home; the reality came on me as a new, and a not less terrible, disaster.
(Frankenstein, by Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley)
I read it in your eyes and in your manner on that terrible morning.
(Rodney Stone, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)
Then a man entered who was taller than all others, and looked terrible.
(Fairy Tales, by The Brothers Grimm)
But to those who are not honest, or who approach him from curiosity, he is most terrible, and few have ever dared ask to see his face.
(The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, by L. Frank Baum)
I was in a terrible fright, and kept as far as I could from the edge, for fear of falling.
(Gulliver's Travels into several remote nations of the world, by Jonathan Swift)
The annoyance of the bells must be terrible.
(Mansfield Park, by Jane Austen)
We did indeed, but they were of a terrible and most unexpected nature.
(The Lost World, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)
So up he flew directly, and a terrible scene took place, for Lucy was come to them by that time, little dreaming what was going on.
(Sense and Sensibility, by Jane Austen)
All about the carriage were gathered the children from a dozen blocks, waiting and eager for some tragic and terrible denouement.
(Martin Eden, by Jack London)
It was a terrible spectacle: I witnessed it myself.
(Jane Eyre, by Charlotte Brontë)
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