terribly

adverb

ter·​ri·​bly ˈter-ə-blē How to pronounce terribly (audio)
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.

Examples of terribly in a Sentence

I'm terribly sorry to bother you
Recent Examples on the Web
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.
Kicking off August is the rom-com My Oxford Year, which focuses on the tried and trusted formula of a young American girl heading to stuffy old Europe and finding love with some impossibly handsome and terribly charming guy, so it’s almost guaranteed to find a huge audience. Abid Rahman, HollywoodReporter, 2 Aug. 2025 Schiavo also faulted the FAA for not coming off as terribly responsive to problems. Josh Funk, Fortune, 2 Aug. 2025 Her husband even made a doctor's appointment, convinced something was terribly wrong. Lydia Patrick, MSNBC Newsweek, 1 Aug. 2025 At one point, a service station minimart hold-up goes terribly and almost fatally sideways when an unexpected customer opens fire. Joe Leydon, Variety, 1 Aug. 2025 See All Example Sentences for terribly

Word History

First Known Use

15th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Time Traveler
The first known use of terribly was in the 15th century

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Cite this Entry

“Terribly.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/terribly. Accessed 6 Aug. 2025.

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