| English Dictionary |
TERRIFIC
| Pronunciation (US): |  | (GB): | |
| IPA (US): |  |
Dictionary entry overview: What does terrific mean?
• TERRIFIC (adjective)
The adjective TERRIFIC has 3 senses:
1. very great or intense
2. extraordinarily good or great; used especially as intensifiers
3. causing extreme terror
Familiarity information: TERRIFIC used as an adjective is uncommon.
Dictionary entry details
Sense 1
Meaning:
Very great or intense
Context example:
fought a terrific battle
Similar:
intense (possessing or displaying a distinctive feature to a heightened degree)
Sense 2
Meaning:
Extraordinarily good or great; used especially as intensifiers
Synonyms:
fantastic; grand; howling; marvellous; marvelous; rattling; terrific; tremendous; wonderful; wondrous
Context example:
a tremendous achievement
Similar:
extraordinary (beyond what is ordinary or usual; highly unusual or exceptional or remarkable)
Sense 3
Meaning:
Causing extreme terror
Synonyms:
terrific; terrifying
Context example:
a terrifying wail
Similar:
alarming (frightening because of an awareness of danger)
Context examples
Only the year before, however, there had been a terrific earthquake, and the upper end of the tunnel had fallen in and completely disappeared.
(The Lost World, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)
Is there any evidence that someone crept up to the garden window and in some manner produced so terrific an effect that he drove those who saw it out of their senses?
(His Last Bow, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)
But the sea, having upon it the additional agitation of the whole night, was infinitely more terrific than when I had seen it last.
(David Copperfield, by Charles Dickens)
I quitted my seat, and walked on, although the darkness and storm increased every minute, and the thunder burst with a terrific crash over my head.
(Frankenstein, by Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley)
Wind abating; seas still terrific, but feel them less, as ship is steadier.
(Dracula, by Bram Stoker)
The terrific gong was a frying-pan, hanging on the wall, that rattled and clattered with each leap of the ship.
(The Sea-Wolf, by Jack London)
It had gripped savagely hold of him and was about to wreak upon him some terrific hurt.
(White Fang, by Jack London)
The storm still raged, and various were the noises, more terrific even than the wind, which struck at intervals on her startled ear.
(Northanger Abbey, by Jane Austen)
Needless to say the arena was crowded with hosts of lesser lights, and the dust and sweat and din became terrific.
(Martin Eden, by Jack London)
He plunged about in their very midst, tearing, rending, destroying, in constant and terrific motion which defied the arrows they discharged at him.
(The Call of the Wild, by Jack London)
| Learn English with... Proverbs |
"Where there is plenty of water, it rains; where there is abundant heat, the sun shines." (Bhutanese proverb)
"Be careful of your enemy once and of your friend a thousand times, for a double crossing friend knows more about what harms you." (Arabic proverb)
"You're correct, but the goat is mine." (Corsican proverb)