terribly
adverb
ter·ri·bly ˈter-ə-blē 
ˈte-rə-
1
: to an extreme degree : very, extremely
became terribly ill
had a terribly nice time
got terribly excited
I had tried a little radio before the war and hadn't been terribly impressed with it at the time.—
Walter Cronkite
Walter Cronkite
He and Jimmy got into a quarrel about the girl's being fired, and it got terribly bitter.—Virginia Foster Durr
Virginia Foster Durr
2
: in a terrible way : very badly, poorly, or unpleasantly
behaving terribly
They were treated terribly.
This can be regarded as a somewhat progressive attitude because it is true that women were terribly abused in the Roman world.—Norman F. Cantor
Norman F. Cantor
And then the next year I played terribly and finished close to last.—Gene Littler
Gene Littler
3
: very much
I miss you terribly.
Examples of terribly in a Sentence
I'm terribly sorry to bother you
Recent Examples on the Web
Suzuki’s early struggles aren’t terribly alarming. —Meghan Montemurro, Chicago Tribune, 22 Apr. 2026 In near-future Los Angeles, soon-to-be-divorced and terribly lonely Theodore Twombly (Joaquin Phoenix) falls in love with Samantha, an AI operating system (voiced by Scarlett Johansson). —David Faris, TheWeek, 22 Apr. 2026 OpenAI and Anthropic are backing opposing AI bills in the Illinois General Assembly that try to answer what should happen when AI makes something go terribly wrong. —Jacqueline Munis, Fortune, 17 Apr. 2026 Pash said the state licensing process and other aspects of opening the business were not terribly difficult, but since growers were licensed the same day as adult-use dispensaries, the supply side has been struggling to keep up with demand. —Jess Fleming, Twin Cities, 15 Apr. 2026 See All Example Sentences for terribly
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Meghan Montemurro, Chicago Tribune, 22 Apr. 2026 In near-future Los Angeles, soon-to-be-divorced and terribly lonely Theodore Twombly (Joaquin Phoenix) falls in love with Samantha, an AI operating system (voiced by Scarlett Johansson). —David Faris, TheWeek, 22 Apr. 2026 OpenAI and Anthropic are backing opposing AI bills in the Illinois General Assembly that try to answer what should happen when AI makes something go terribly wrong. —Jacqueline Munis, Fortune, 17 Apr. 2026 Pash said the state licensing process and other aspects of opening the business were not terribly difficult, but since growers were licensed the same day as adult-use dispensaries, the supply side has been struggling to keep up with demand. —Jess Fleming, Twin Cities, 15 Apr. 2026 See All Example Sentences for terribly
Cite this Entry
“Terribly.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.grautoblog.com/dictionary/terribly. Accessed 25 Apr. 2026.
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