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.

"We do not want this terrible tragedy to be used to divide people or fuel hostility," they said.

From Barron's • Jun. 10, 2026

“Some journalist recently counted how many cops I’ve played and it was a terrible number,” she says.

From Los Angeles Times • Jun. 9, 2026

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

From The Wall Street Journal • Jun. 5, 2026

"Our politics should bring people together even in the most terrible of circumstances. That is who we are as a country," the statement added.

From BBC • Jun. 5, 2026

This—playing ATO together, reading his happy texts, hearing his voice through his terrible mic—was what I needed today.

From "Bye Forever, I Guess" by Jodi Meadows

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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