terrific
Syllables: te·rri·fic
More pronunciations (1)Fewer pronunciations
terrific adjective: causing terror; terrifying.
Adjective
terrific (comparative more terrific, superlative most terrific)
- Causing terror; terrifying.
- [T]he diſmal ſhrieks of demoniac rage […] rouſed phantoms of horror in her mind, far more terrific than all that dreaming ſuperſtition ever drew.1798, Mary Wollstonecraft Godwin, “[Maria: or, The] Wrongs of Woman”, in W[illiam] Godwin, editor, Posthumous Works of the Author of A Vindication of the Rights of Woman. […], volume I, London: […]...
- Think of wandering amid sepulchral ruins, of stumbling over the bones of the dead, of encountering what I cannot describe,—the horror of being among those who are neither the living or the dead;—those dark and shadowless things that sport themselves with the reliques of the dead, and feast and love...1820, [Charles Robert Maturin], Melmoth the Wanderer: A Tale. […], volume II, Edinburgh: […] Archibald Constable and Company, and Hurst, Robinson, and Co., […], →OCLC, page 154
- Synonyms:
- affreux, alarming, spine-tingling, appalling, awful, eldritch, buggish, butt-clenching, buttock-clenching, dismayful
- Very strong or intense; excessive, tremendous.
- The car came round the bend at a terrific speed.
- I've got a terrific hangover this morning.
- Extremely good; excellent, amazing.
- I say! She's a terrific tennis player.
terrific meaning in Tamil, Bengali, Malayalam and Kannada
terrific in Tamil
- திகில் ஊட்டுகிற
terrific in Bengali
- ভয়াবহ, খুবই তীব্র, অত্যধিক, অত্যন্ত ভালো, চমৎকার
terrific in Malayalam
- അതിഗംഭീരമായ, ഉഗ്രനായ, അതിഭയങ്കരമായ
terrific in Kannada
- ಬೆದರಿಕೆಯ, ಅಗುರ್ವಿಸುವ, ತುಂಬ ಒಳ್ಳೆಯ, ಅದ್ಭುತ, ಅತ್ಯುತ್ಕೃಷ್ಟ, ತೀರ ಹೆಚ್ಚಾದ
More languagesFewer languages
- terrific in Sanskrit
- घोर ghorá
Examples of terrific in a sentence
- And the spot was young bride's blood. (To this terrific point I am indebted for my first personal experience of a shudder and cold beads on the forehead.)1860, Charles Dickens, Captain Murderer:
- When the warriors saw this, their cheers were terrific.1943, H. Lorna Bingham, The Lost Tribe, Sydney: Winn and Co., page 23, column 2:
- From Atlantic to Pacific / Gee, the traffic is terrific.1954, “(There's No Place Like) Home for the Holidays”, Al Stillman (lyrics), Robert Allen (music):
Synonyms of terrific
- affreux
- alarming
- spine-tingling
- appalling
- awful
- eldritch
- butt-clenching
- buttock-clenching
- dreadful
- fearful
28 more synonymsFewer synonyms
Forms of terrific
| comparative | more terrific |
|---|---|
| superlative | most terrific |
| alternative form (obsolete) | terrifick |
Origin of terrific
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.
Words formed from terrific
Words that rhyme with terrific
- specific
- prolific
- calorific
- colorific
- hieroglyphic
- honorific
- scientific
- -ific
- biospecific
- calcific
- dolorific
- febrific
48 more rhymesFewer rhymes
- interspecific
- morbific
- organific
- pacific
- signific
- soporific
- sudorific
- triglyphic
- trispecific
- unterrific
- vaporific
- acidific
- algific
- allospecific
- anaglyphic
- anticalcific
- antiprolific
- aspecific
- aurific
- bioscientific
- bispecific
- carbonific
- chylific
- classific
- coelanaglyphic
- conspecific
- cornific
- cospecific
- crapperific
- damnific
- deific
- diaglyphic
- ditriglyphic
- frigorific
- geoglyphic
- grandific
- hipsterific
- horrific
- humilific
- inspecific
- lactific
- lapidific
- lithoglyphic
- lucific
- lucrific
- mirific
- nanospecific
- omnific
Questions about terrific
- What does terrific mean?
- Terrific means causing terror; terrifying.
- What is terrific in Tamil?
- Terrific in Tamil is திகில் ஊட்டுகிற. See Terrific meaning in Tamil.
- How do you use terrific in a sentence?
- And the spot was young bride's blood. (To this terrific point I am indebted for my first personal experience of a shudder and cold beads on the forehead.)
- What part of speech is terrific?
- Terrific is an adjective.
Words near terrific in the dictionary
Source and license
Adapted from Wiktionary: terrific (page history and authors); terrific (Tamil Wiktionary) (page history and authors); terrific (Bengali Wiktionary) (page history and authors); terrific (Malayalam Wiktionary) (page history and authors); terrific (Kannada Wiktionary) (page history and authors); घोर (Sanskrit) (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.
Last updated:
Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: LL-Q1860 (eng)-I learned some phrases-terrific.wav, En-us-terrific.ogg, LL-Q1860 (eng)-Wodencafe-terrific.wav.
Cite this entry: “terrific.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/terrific. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.