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

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

Patrick Cantlay is not one who sounds terribly interested in going. — ABC News, 25 Aug. 2026

As terrifying as so many of the technologies that constitute the carceral surround are (or purport to be), the reality is that in practice many of them work terribly. — Literary Hub, 24 Aug. 2026

The five per cent is for if things go terribly wrong and Liverpool have no choice but to change. — Andy Jones, New York Times, 21 Aug. 2026

Word History

First Known Use

15th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Rhymes for terribly

• unbearably