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 of terribly

• 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

You’re born in a place where women are treated terribly, or journalists are imprisoned, and those people need some luck. — Lily Ford, HollywoodReporter, 3 Sep. 2026

But things went terribly wrong while giving birth to her daughter. — Michael Collins, USA Today, 30 Aug. 2026

Although none of these trails are terribly technical, there’s still an inherent risk that comes with hiking. — Jaclyn Cosgrove, Los Angeles Times, 27 Aug. 2026

Twenty‑three years after his death, Elliott still isn’t particularly well known, or well understood, but he is terribly loved. — Literary Hub, 27 Aug. 2026

Word History

First Known Use

15th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Rhymes for terribly

• unbearably