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.

He added that the party had been "badly, badly, badly let down" by its former chief executive, and said Murrell's guilty plea was "an admission of a terrible breach of trust and an overwhelming betrayal".

From BBC • May 26, 2026

They’re terrible places, but they don’t seem overcrowded.

From Salon • May 24, 2026

But based on oral arguments, I think this may be yet another case that crashed into the shoals of Alabama’s terrible lawyering.

From Slate • May 23, 2026

For Leslie Fiedler, the greatest works of American literature were those that engaged with terrible fears and forbidden desires.

From The Wall Street Journal • May 22, 2026

He looked at me and I knew he was thinking I looked terrible too.

From "Nory Ryan’s Song" by Patricia Reilly Giff

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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