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
Walter CronkiteHe and Jimmy got into a quarrel about the girl's being fired, and it got terribly bitter.—Virginia Foster Durr
Virginia Foster Durr2
: 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
Norman F. CantorAnd then the next year I played terribly and finished close to last.—Gene Littler
Gene Littler3
: very much
I miss you terribly.
Examples of terribly in a Sentence
I'm terribly sorry to bother you
Recent Examples on the Web
What If…? ended up not being a terribly good series in the end and making Carter the focus attracted a lot of flak since it was supposed to be an anthology.
—Paul Tassi, Forbes.com, 5 Apr. 2025
That could be terribly damaging, especially with the arrival of the low season and everything.
—Jason D. Greenblatt, MSNBC Newsweek, 2 Apr. 2025
People who work in local politics, which is not terribly lucrative, are generally well aware that high-earning spouses may be subsidizing their colleagues’ political careers, Hiltz told me.
—Stephanie H. Murray, The Atlantic, 31 Mar. 2025
Jaclyn, Kate, and Laurie Laurie may be right that Jaclyn is behaving terribly—what married woman sleeps with a guy she’s been trying to set up with her friend all week?—but her bitterness is really bumming out her best frenemies.
—Judy Berman, Time, 31 Mar. 2025
See All Example Sentences for terribly
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Paul Tassi, Forbes.com, 5 Apr. 2025
That could be terribly damaging, especially with the arrival of the low season and everything.
—Jason D. Greenblatt, MSNBC Newsweek, 2 Apr. 2025
People who work in local politics, which is not terribly lucrative, are generally well aware that high-earning spouses may be subsidizing their colleagues’ political careers, Hiltz told me.
—Stephanie H. Murray, The Atlantic, 31 Mar. 2025
Jaclyn, Kate, and Laurie Laurie may be right that Jaclyn is behaving terribly—what married woman sleeps with a guy she’s been trying to set up with her friend all week?—but her bitterness is really bumming out her best frenemies.
—Judy Berman, Time, 31 Mar. 2025
See All Example Sentences for terribly
Cite this Entry
“Terribly.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/terribly. Accessed 16 Apr. 2025.
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