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

He and Jimmy got into a quarrel about the girl's being fired, and it got terribly bitter.

—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

And then the next year I played terribly and finished close to last.

—Gene Littler

3

: very much

I miss you terribly.

Synonyms of terribly

• extremely
• very
• incredibly
• too
• highly
• badly
• so
• damned
• damn
• severely
• really
• desperately
• seriously
• far
• intensely
• greatly

Examples of terribly in a Sentence

I'm terribly sorry to bother you

Recent Examples on the Web

However, the path to the starting lineup may not be terribly long a wait for Parker. —Joe Buscaglia, New York Times, 30 Apr. 2026

All told, the destructive flooding killed at least 136 people along a several-mile stretch of the river, raising questions about how things went so terribly wrong. —Jim Vertuno, Los Angeles Times, 30 Apr. 2026

Accessibility Carcassonne itself is not terribly wheelchair friendly due to the steep, narrow, cobblestone streets. —Condé Nast, Condé Nast Traveler, 28 Apr. 2026

Beyond that, non-phantom, non-Dracula vampires aren’t terribly over-exposed in the Broadway genre. —Chris Jones, Chicago Tribune, 27 Apr. 2026

Word History

First Known Use

15th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Rhymes for terribly

• unbearably