Definitions

terrible

[ter-uh-buhl] / ˈtɛr ə bəl /

ADJECTIVE

bad, horrible

Synonyms

STRONGEST

abhorrent appalling atrocious awesome awful dangerous dire disastrous disturbing dreadful frightful ghastly gruesome harrowing hideous horrendous horrid horrifying serious severe shocking unfortunate unpleasant

WEAK

awe-inspiring beastly desperate dread dreaded fearful hateful inconvenient loathsome monstrous obnoxious odious offensive petrifying poor repulsive revolting rotten unnerving unwelcome vile

Antonyms

STRONGEST

beautiful calming comforting delightful fortunate good happy inoffensive lucky mild nice pleasant pleasing trivial unimportant wonderful

WEAK

great

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

“I feel terrible about what happened. I feel really bad about my actions and some of the terrible behavior I did,” he said.

From Los Angeles Times • Jun. 6, 2026

Celan would later refer to the Shoah with the terrible restraint of “that which happened.”

From The Wall Street Journal • Jun. 5, 2026

Sir Keir told reporters on Thursday: "When we have a terrible case like Henry's case, Henry Nowak, we react calmly, as his family have done."

From BBC • Jun. 4, 2026

The problem is that these moments are imbalanced, outweighed by the amount of time spent watching Wish Nikki do terrible things and Bear suffer the consequences.

From Salon • Jun. 4, 2026

Something terrible has happened, yet Phineas gets down from the cart without help.

From "Phineas Gage" by John Fleischman

Vocabulary lists containing terrible

Week 2 Vocabulary

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Spelling Practice, Unit 5

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Spelling Practice 2, Unit 8

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