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

To be candid, our process was not terribly dramatic—there were no big fights, no couples counseling—other than the drama of racing to complete the project (or, at least, most of it) before the kids were born. —Literary Hub, 2 June 2026

While there are plenty of moments of necessary humor in the story, with Marquis flexing her knack for comic timing, other moments are terribly uncomfortable to grasp. —David John Chávez, Mercury News, 29 May 2026

The finish is dry and not terribly long. —David Thomas Tao, Forbes.com, 28 May 2026

Neighbors said flashing emergency lights and sirens alerted them something was terribly wrong. —Adi Guajardo, CBS News, 28 May 2026

Word History

First Known Use

15th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Rhymes for terribly

• unbearably