terrible /ˈtɛrɪb(ə)l /
▸ adjective
1 extremely bad or serious:
a terrible crime
the terrible conditions in which the ordinary people lived.
▪ extremely unpleasant or disagreeable:
the weather was terrible.
very unskilful:
despite passing my driving test first time, I'm a terrible driver
I was terrible at basketball.
▪ [attrib.] informal used to emphasize the extent of something unpleasant or bad:
what a terrible mess.
▪ very unwell or troubled:
I was sick all night and felt terrible for two days.
2 causing or likely to cause terror; sinister:
the stranger gave a terrible smile.
– PHRASES
terrible twos informal
a period in a child's social development (typically around the age of two years) which is associated with very defiant or unruly behaviour.
– DERIVATIVES terribleness noun
– ORIGIN late Middle English (in the sense ‘causing terror’): via French from Latin terribilis, from terrere ‘frighten’.