terrific
- 01 B1 Intermediate
very good, wonderful, or impressive.
extremely good; used as an enthusiastic intensifier for quality.
Simple“You did a terrific job on the presentation and everyone was impressed.”
In context“The feedback from the client was terrific, specifically praising the team's ability to meet such a demanding schedule without compromising quality.”
PitfallThe movie was terrific, I was so scared. The movie was terrifying, I was so scared.In modern English, 'terrific' means 'great'. If you want to say something causes fear, use 'terrifying'.
- 02 B2 Upper Intermediate
very great in amount, degree, or intensity.
extraordinary in degree or intensity; used to emphasize the scale of a non-physical quality.
Simple“The engine was making a terrific noise as the car sped down the road.”
In context“The project was completed under terrific pressure, yet the final results exceeded the board's most optimistic projections.”
Synonyms - 03 C2 Proficiency
causing great fear or terror.
causing great fear or dread; the original etymological sense related to 'terror'.
Simple“The terrific roar of the storm shook the very foundations of the old house.”
In context“In the gothic novel, the protagonist faces a terrific apparition that haunts the castle's highest battlements.”
Teacher's tipModern speakers almost never use this sense; it is found primarily in 18th and 19th-century literature.
SynonymsAntonyms
“But I was stunned that this solipsistic mess opens the book, because Gilbert is a terrific storyteller – Eat Pray Love , her memoir of self-acceptance and healing, was read by millions.”
“His goals were terrific, his play was great.”
From French terrifique, and its source, Latin terrificus (“terrifying”), from terrēre (“to frighten, terrify”) + -ficus, related to facere (“to make”). By surface analysis, terrify + -ic. The sense of excellent or amazing is an ameliorative semantic shift from the original sense of terrifying. Compare similar semantic development in sick and wicked.
Etymology adapted from Wiktionary, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.