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.

"And then such an extreme event takes place, and in a way, liberates everything -- all the emotions, all the ideas and the passions, all the terrible things."

From Barron's • Apr. 3, 2026

When did I become such a terrible iPhone typist?

From The Wall Street Journal • Mar. 29, 2026

Consider the terrible performance of a hypothetical portfolio containing stocks whose borrowing costs exceeded 50% annually.

From MarketWatch • Mar. 27, 2026

Marine biologist, Robert Marc Lehmann, told NDR he found the whale's skin "looks terrible" but he is responsive.

From BBC • Mar. 26, 2026

So he dug and dug into the rising snow with the goal of hollowing out a snow cave, a place to weather the terrible storm.

From "The Very, Very Far North" by Dan Bar-el

terrible

Example Sentences

Related Words