terribly
- 01 B1 Intermediate
in a very bad or poor way.
in a manner that is very poor, unpleasant, or unsuccessful.
Simple“The team played terribly and lost the game by four goals.”
In context“The project was terribly managed from the start, leading to significant budget overruns and a complete loss of stakeholder confidence.”
- 02 B2 Upper Intermediate
used to mean 'very' or 'extremely', often to show you feel strongly about something.
used as an intensifier to mean 'extremely' or 'to a great extent'.
Simple“I am terribly sorry for being late to the meeting.”
In context“She felt terribly lonely in the large house after her children moved away to start their own lives in the city.”
- 03 C2 Proficiency
in a way that causes great fear or wonder.
in a manner that inspires terror, awe, or great dread.
Simple“The thunder roared terribly across the dark valley.”
In context“The ancient beast loomed terribly over the knights, its eyes glowing with a prehistoric hunger that froze them in place.”
Synonymsfrighteninglydreadfully
“Families searched for missing loved ones long after hope had become terribly thin.”
“That is not terribly much for such a big animal, which could weigh roughly 67 tons .”
Inherited from Middle English terribli. By surface analysis, terrible + -ly.
Etymology adapted from Wiktionary, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.