terribly

English

Etymology

Inherited from Middle English terribli. By surface analysis, terrible +‎ -ly.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈtɛɹ.ɪ.bli/

• Audio (US):

  (file)

• Hyphenation: ter‧ri‧bly

Adverb

terribly (comparative more terribly, superlative most terribly)

1. (literary or dated) So as to cause terror or awe.

   The lion roared terribly.

   • 1959, Anthony Burgess, Beds in the East (The Malayan Trilogy), published 1972, page 519:

     The mere sensuous impact of trumpet or saxophone, whatever it happened to be playing, was an echo, even though a faint echo, of that excitement and abandon. He wanted to taste, smell, hear: his senses were terribly alive.

2. Very; extremely.

   He's terribly busy and you really shouldn't bother him.

   • 2011 December 15, Felicity Cloake, “How to cook the perfect nut roast”, in The Guardian‎^[1], archived from the original on 19 June 2025:

     The parsnip, stilton and chestnut combination may taste good, but it's not terribly decorative. In fact, dull's the word, a lingering adjectival ghost of nut roasts past that I'm keen to banish from the table.

3. Very badly.

   She took part in the karaoke, but sang terribly.

   • 2018 August 10, Paige Cornwell, Agueda Pacheco-Flores, “Airplane taken from Seattle-Tacoma International Airport has crashed”, in The Seattle Times‎^[2], archived from the original on 30 August 2018:

     “A joyride gone terribly wrong,” Pierce County Sheriff Paul Pastor said during a news conference in Steilacoom, which is about 3 miles from the island.

Synonyms

• (causing terror or awe): grisly (obsolete)
• (very): very, extremely, awfully, horribly

Collocations

with adjectives

• terribly wrong
• terribly sorry
• terribly important
• terribly difficult
• terribly hard
• terribly afraid
• terribly sad
• terribly bad
• terribly expensive
• terribly long
• terribly upset
• terribly exciting
• terribly fast
• terribly excited
• terribly slow
• terribly cold
• terribly hot
• terribly busy
• terribly concerned
• terribly pleased
• terribly interesting
• terribly painful
• terribly funny
• terribly lonely
• terribly ill
• terribly good
• terribly tired
• terribly strong
• terribly confused
• terribly serious
• terribly fond
• terribly old
• terribly angry
• terribly anxious
• terribly effective
• terribly depressed
• terribly familiar
• terribly attractive
• terribly happy
• terribly poor
• terribly hungry
• terribly sick
• terribly big
• terribly nice
• terribly small
• terribly dull
• terribly clever
• terribly dirty
• terribly proud
• terribly disappointing
• terribly sweet
• terribly original
• terribly ashamed
• terribly efficient
• terribly successful
• terribly jealous
• terribly simple
• terribly strange
• terribly cruel

Translations

in a terrible manner

• Catalan: terriblement (ca)
• Esperanto: aĉe, malbonege
• Finnish: hirveästi (fi), hirmuisesti
• French: terriblement (fr)
• Greek:

  Ancient Greek: ἐκπάγλως (ekpáglōs)

• Italian: terribilmente (it)
• Polish: okropnie (pl)
• Russian: ужа́сно (ru) (užásno), стра́шно (ru) (strášno), жу́тко (ru) (žútko), гро́зно (ru) (grózno) (voice, look)
• Serbo-Croatian: ȕžāsno (sh), grȏzno (sh), strášno (sh)

very; extremely

• Burmese: အရမ်း (my) (a.ram:)
• Danish: frygteligt
• Finnish: hirveän (fi), kauhean (fi)
• French: terriblement (fr)
• German: furchtbar (de)
• Greek:

  Ancient Greek: αἰνῶς (ainôs)

• Hungarian: szörnyen (hu), borzasztóan (hu)
• Irish: go diail
• Italian: estremamente (it)
• Polish: okropnie (pl)
• Russian: ужа́сно (ru) (užásno), стра́шно (ru) (strášno), жу́тко (ru) (žútko), кра́йне (ru) (krájne), весьма́ (ru) (vesʹmá)
• Serbo-Croatian: vȑlo (sh), vèoma (sh)
• Spanish: rematadamente
• Swedish: hemskt (sv)
• Walloon: teribmint (wa), carapmint (wa)