terrible
“terrible” means “terrible” in Spanish. It has 2 different meanings depending on context:
terrible, dreadful
Also: horrible, awful
📝 In Action
La película fue terrible, no me gustó nada.
A2The movie was terrible, I didn't like it at all.
Tuvimos un accidente terrible en la autopista.
B1We had a terrible accident on the highway.
Siento un dolor de cabeza terrible.
A2I have a terrible headache.
tremendous, huge
Also: awful, fierce
📝 In Action
¡Qué fiesta tan terrible! Nos divertimos muchísimo.
B2What a tremendous party! We had a great time.
Tengo un hambre terrible, podría comerme un caballo.
B1I'm terribly hungry, I could eat a horse.
El nuevo cantante tiene una voz terrible.
C1The new singer has a tremendous/powerful voice.
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✏️ Quick Practice
Quick Quiz: terrible
Question 1 of 1
A friend comes out of a concert and says with a huge smile, '¡El concierto estuvo terrible!' What do they most likely mean?
📚 More Resources
📚 Etymology▼
Comes from the Latin word 'terribilis', which meant 'something to be feared'. It's related to the Latin verb 'terrere', which means 'to frighten'. You can see the family resemblance in English words like 'terror' and 'terrify'!
First recorded: 15th century
Cognates (Related words)
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Frequently Asked Questions
Can 'terrible' ever be used for something good?
Yes, absolutely! While its main meaning is 'awful' or 'very bad', it's often used informally to mean 'tremendous', 'intense', or even 'awesome'. For example, '¡Hace un sol terrible!' means 'The sun is intensely strong!', which could be good or bad depending on if you want to go to the beach or not. Always look at the context and listen to the speaker's tone.
Does 'terrible' change for masculine and feminine nouns?
Nope, it's one of the easy ones! 'Terrible' stays the same for both. You say 'un libro terrible' (a terrible book) and 'una casa terrible' (a terrible house). You only need to add an '-s' at the end when you're talking about more than one thing: 'libros terribles' or 'casas terribles'.