Terrible Definition

Contents

• 1 English
  • 1.1 Etymology
  • 1.2 Pronunciation
  • 1.3 Adjective
    • 1.3.1 Synonyms
    • 1.3.2 Related terms
    • 1.3.3 Translations
    • 1.3.4 External links
  • 1.4 Statistics
• 2 French
  • 2.1 Pronunciation
  • 2.2 Adjective
    • 2.2.1 Related terms
• 3 Spanish
  • 3.1 Adjective
    • 3.1.1 Related terms

English

Etymology

From French < Latin terribilis (“frightful”) < terrere (“to frighten”). Compare terror, deter.

Pronunciation

• (UK) IPA: /ˈtɛ.ɹə.bl̩/, ˈtɛ.ɹɪ.bl̩/; SAMPA: /"tE.r@.bl=/, /"tE.rI.bl=/

• Audio (US)
  (file)

Adjective

terrible (comparative more terrible, superlative most terrible)

1. Dreadful; causing alarm and fear.

   The witch gave him a terrible curse.

2. Most formidable.
   • 1883: Robert Louis Stevenson, Treasure Island

     ...and there was even a party of the younger men who pretended to admire him, calling him a "true sea-dog," and "real old salt," and such-like names, and saying there was the sort of man that made England terrible at sea.

3. Intense; extreme in degree or extent.

   He paid a terrible price for his life of drinking.

4. Unpleasant; disagreeable.

   The food was terrible, but it was free.

5. Very bad; lousy.

   Whatever he thinks, he is a terrible driver.

Synonyms

• See also Wikisaurus:frightening

Related terms

• terrific
• terrify
• terrifying
• terror
• terrorist
• terrorize

External links

• terrible in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, G. & C. Merriam, 1913
• terrible in The Century Dictionary, The Century Co., New York, 1911

Statistics

• Most common English words before 1923: date · summer · simply · #856: terrible · Tom · author · authority

French

Pronunciation

• IPA: /tɛ.ʁibl/, SAMPA: /tE.Ribl/

  audio
  (file)

Adjective

terrible (epicene, plural terribles)

1. (all senses) terrible
   • 1837, Louis Viardot, L’Ingénieux Hidalgo Don Quichotte de la Manche^{fr.Wikisource}, translation of El ingenioso hidalgo Don Quijote de la Mancha by Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra, Chapter II:

     Mais à peine se vit-il en chemin qu’une pensée terrible l’assaillit, et telle, que peu s’en fallut qu’elle ne lui fît abandonner l’entreprise commencée.

     But scarcely did he see himself on the road when a terrible thought assaulted him, and such that little was missing to make him abandon the enterprise he had started.

Related terms

• terreur
• terriblement
• terrifier

Spanish

Adjective

terrible m. and f. (plural terribles)

1. terrible (clarification of this Spanish definition is being sought)

Related terms

• terriblemente
• terribilísimo
• terror

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