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

And their chemistry is palpable enough to override how terribly their characters treat each other. —Rebecca Ford, Vanity Fair, 21 Jan. 2026

But those all will be positive changes for the Giants’ overall operation, even if the process is terribly uncomfortable in the short term. —Pat Leonard, New York Daily News, 20 Jan. 2026

Even after five seasons, it was still abruptly cancelled, which did not seem terribly logical at the time, given its high quality. —Paul Tassi, Forbes.com, 17 Jan. 2026

Mu-hee was sent to live with her uncle and aunt, who treated her terribly. —Kayti Burt, Time, 16 Jan. 2026

Word History

First Known Use

15th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Rhymes for terribly

• unbearably