ENGLISH
REFERENCE

terrific

adj.
C1 Advanced Oxford US //tɝˈɪfɪk// UK //təɹˈɪfɪk// ter·rif·ic Archaic

adj. extremely good or impressive. You use it to show you are very happy with a result or a person's work.

adj. extraordinarily good, impressive, or of high quality. While historically related to 'terror', the modern sense is almost exclusively positive and emphatic.


SIMPLE

You did a terrific job on the presentation.

CONTEXTUAL

The local bakery has a terrific selection of fresh bread every morning.

COMPLEX

The team's performance was truly terrific, demonstrating a level of coordination and skill that far exceeded the expectations of the coaching staff.

Synonyms
Origin

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.

Usage

A gradable adjective that can be modified by intensifiers like 'absolutely' or 'really'.

Pitfall

a terrific feara terrible fearIn modern English, 'terrific' means 'great' or 'wonderful'; 'terrible' is used for things that are scary or bad.

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