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

The subsequent revelation that the Reiners’ son Nick was allegedly responsible for their deaths is as terribly sad as it is sordid. —Alexandra Schwartz, New Yorker, 17 Dec. 2025

This is, admittedly, not a terribly sexy topic. —Stephanie H. Murray, The Atlantic, 16 Dec. 2025

Policy is not terribly interesting to me in an artistic sense. —Frank Digiacomo, Billboard, 15 Dec. 2025

What was meant to be a highlight of an Australian air show —16 skydivers in formation, jumping from 15,000 feet — went terribly wrong just as the cameraman and first skydiver stepped out of the door over Tully Airport in Far North Queensland. —CBS News, 12 Dec. 2025

Word History

First Known Use

15th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Rhymes for terribly

• unbearably