1
as in horrible
causing fear
a terrible nightmare that woke me up
Synonyms & Similar Words
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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
2
as in intense
extreme in degree, power, or effect
I have a terrible headache
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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
3
as in horrific
extremely disturbing or repellent
that is a terrible movie to let your six-year-old watch
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4
as in awful
extremely unsatisfactory
this nonfat ice cream is terrible
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5
as in poor
of low quality
manufactures terrible clothes that often tear after a single wash
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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of terrible
There’s nothing more troublesome than a government that finds no problem too small to care about — and governments have a terrible track record for solving large ones.
—
Steven Greenhut, Oc Register, 7 Nov. 2025
City officials have struggled to predict water availability in the recent past, especially as the ongoing drought on the Colorado River has continued delivering terrible water years.
—Austin Corona, AZCentral.com, 6 Nov. 2025
That’s a terrible Scottish accent.
—Rachel Handler, Vulture, 6 Nov. 2025
Coming back would be a terrible idea, Ryan responded.
—Jamie Thompson, The Atlantic, 6 Nov. 2025
See All Example Sentences for terrible
Steven Greenhut, Oc Register, 7 Nov. 2025
City officials have struggled to predict water availability in the recent past, especially as the ongoing drought on the Colorado River has continued delivering terrible water years.
—Austin Corona, AZCentral.com, 6 Nov. 2025
That’s a terrible Scottish accent.
—Rachel Handler, Vulture, 6 Nov. 2025
Coming back would be a terrible idea, Ryan responded.
—Jamie Thompson, The Atlantic, 6 Nov. 2025
See All Example Sentences for terrible
Recent Examples of Synonyms for terrible
Adjective
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Are there horrible smells wafting around?—
Clio Chang,
Curbed,
7 Jan. 2026
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Jimmy Kimmel was horrible, and some of these people.—
Greg Evans,
Deadline,
6 Jan. 2026
Adjective
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Gas and dust fall into a rotating disk around the black hole, and as the debris spirals more rapidly, it becomes superheated, releasing intense radiation.—
Ashley Strickland,
CNN Money,
7 Nov. 2025
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True Ipomea batatas has bright orange flesh (although modern varieties have much more intense colors than older forms), occasionally white and rarely purple.—
Paul Cappiello,
Louisville Courier Journal,
7 Nov. 2025
Adjective
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Wednesday afternoon, New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani called the shooting horrific.—
Ali Bauman,
CBS News,
8 Jan. 2026
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From a horrific account of an asteroid hitting Earth to an evil AI computer capable of designing deadly activities, readers will face the dark and mysterious corners of the human experience.—
Jessica Tzikas,
Sun Sentinel,
8 Jan. 2026
Adjective
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The Hoosiers, of course, are the prime example of a longtime awful football program rising to the top.—
Arkansas Online,
Arkansas Online,
8 Jan. 2026
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Mamdani hasn’t had time yet to flesh out his awful, socialist ideas into real policies that adversely affect New Yorkers.—
Nicole Russell,
USA Today,
8 Jan. 2026
Adjective
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Flooding may occur in poor drainage and urban areas.—
NC Weather Bot,
Charlotte Observer,
10 Jan. 2026
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In recent games, KU’s communication has been pretty poor on defense and that’s led to players taking (and too often missing) wide-open 3-pointers.—
Shreyas Laddha,
Kansas City Star,
10 Jan. 2026
Adjective
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Humans could suddenly step into a box, perhaps hear gears grind, and then exit the box on a different floor—and even as safety features were innovated, that was terrifying.—
Jason Corso,
Fortune,
6 Jan. 2026
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Madigan's character, the elderly aunt of several of the students, became a cult favorite, both terrifying and delighting audiences.—
Anna Kaufman,
USA Today,
5 Jan. 2026
Adjective
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Between 2022 and 2023, a team from Arkeologerna conducted an intensive investigation in the southernmost area of the former city.—
Maria Mocerino,
Interesting Engineering,
9 Nov. 2025
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The orbiters are expected to linger in a holding pattern before heading for Mars next year when the red planet is better aligned for a less fuel-intensive journey.—
Jackie Wattles,
CNN Money,
9 Nov. 2025
Adjective
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Von had been Trump-friendly before the gruesome and heartbreaking videos of the ICE raids targeting working immigrants started going viral on social media.—
Armando Tinoco,
Deadline,
7 Nov. 2025
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Daniels suffered his gruesome non-throwing-arm injury during the fourth quarter of Week 9's blowout loss to the Seahawks.—
Matt Audilet,
MSNBC Newsweek,
5 Nov. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Terrible.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/terrible. Accessed 10 Jan. 2026.
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