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

The Nazis employed the V-2 heavily during this time, but the rocket was not terribly accurate. — Mike Wall, Space.com, 3 Oct. 2026

Nothing terribly exciting is happening inside this three-bedroom, but there’s lots of light and a respectable amount of space, and the beach is just a few minutes away. — Nora Deligter, Curbed, 2 Oct. 2026

The wish, of course, goes terribly wrong, leading to bloody consequences for Bear, Nikki and their friends. — Jack Dunn, Variety, 29 Sep. 2026

Fortunately, if no less terribly, there is more to the story, and many of the most compelling scenes have little or nothing to do with Michael. — Robert Lloyd, Los Angeles Times, 20 Sep. 2026

Word History

First Known Use

15th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Rhymes for terribly

• unbearably