terribly

adverb

ter·​ri·​bly ˈter-ə-blē 

ˈte-rə-

1

: to an extreme degree : very : extremely

became terribly ill

had a terribly nice time

got terribly excited

I had tried a little radio before the war and hadn't been terribly impressed with it at the time.

—Walter Cronkite

He and Jimmy got into a quarrel about the girl's being fired, and it got terribly bitter.

—Virginia Foster Durr

2

: in a terrible way : very badly, poorly, or unpleasantly

behaving terribly

They were treated terribly.

This can be regarded as a somewhat progressive attitude because it is true that women were terribly abused in the Roman world.

—Norman F. Cantor

And then the next year I played terribly and finished close to last.

—Gene Littler

3

: very much

I miss you terribly.

Synonyms

• extremely
• very
• incredibly
• too
• highly
• badly
• so
• damned
• damn
• severely
• really
• desperately
• seriously
• far
• intensely
• greatly

Examples of terribly in a Sentence

I'm terribly sorry to bother you

Recent Examples on the Web

With its frozen setting, enigmatic characters, and haunting tone, Let The Right One In is, at its core, a twisted and terribly sad love story — as all the best vampire movies are. —Katie Rife, Entertainment Weekly, 29 Oct. 2025

The market isn't terribly deep for that need this winter. —Tim Crowley, MSNBC Newsweek, 27 Oct. 2025

Something went terribly wrong in the flavor-infusion process. —Jolene Thym, Mercury News, 27 Oct. 2025

This was natural mummification, a possible if not terribly likely occurrence in the dry cool February climate of Santa Fe, in this case in the confines of a private modern house. —Joy Williams, Harpers Magazine, 24 Oct. 2025

Word History

First Known Use

15th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Rhymes for terribly

• unbearably