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

Pash said the state licensing process and other aspects of opening the business were not terribly difficult, but since growers were licensed the same day as adult-use dispensaries, the supply side has been struggling to keep up with demand. —Jess Fleming, Twin Cities, 15 Apr. 2026

Yes, and that’s not terribly surprising for a program that, 20 years in, has just flown a crew to space for the first time. —Stephen Clark, ArsTechnica, 14 Apr. 2026

All told, the destructive flooding killed at least 136 people along a several-mile stretch of the river, raising questions about how things went so terribly wrong. —CBS News, 13 Apr. 2026

One of the most awesome/terrible/terribly awesome things about The Fight For Lord Stanley is that underdogs can bite and, unlike the NBA bracket, seeding can feel like just a number. —Troy Renck, Denver Post, 13 Apr. 2026

Word History

First Known Use

15th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Rhymes for terribly

• unbearably