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.

“Last year’s mass shooting at Florida State University was a tragedy, but ChatGPT is not responsible for this terrible crime,” OpenAI said in a statement.

From MarketWatch • Jun. 1, 2026

“There are some desperate men in this case with terrible criminal records and tons of exposure, and they know what to say to please these prosecutors,” said Jim Trusty, Rozier’s attorney.

From Los Angeles Times • May 29, 2026

I have terrible hips — bursitis and everything — and they hurt so bad that I thought maybe I broke a bone or something.

From Los Angeles Times • May 27, 2026

Mr. Paxton is a terrible fundraiser, bringing in only $7.6 million by May 6 while Mr. Talarico raised $40.3 million through March.

From The Wall Street Journal • May 27, 2026

Everyone felt terrible about the Academy, but Regan especially had more to lose.

From "Glitch" by Laura Martin

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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