| 释义 |
terribleadj.adv.n. Origin: Of multiple origins. Partly a borrowing from French. Partly a borrowing from Latin. Etymons: French terrible; Latin terribilis. Etymology: < (i) Anglo-Norman and Middle French terrible (French terrible ) causing or fit to cause terror (c1160 in Old French), awe-inspiring (second half of the 14th cent.), very harsh, severe, or painful, very great (second half of the 15th cent.; the use in sense A. 2b is apparently not paralleled in French until later: 1672), and its etymon (ii) classical Latin terribilis inspiring terror or alarm, frightening < terrēre to frighten (ultimately < the same Indo-European base as Sanskrit tras- to tremble, ancient Greek τρεῖν to flee, to fear, dread) + -bilis -ble suffix. Compare Old Occitan tarrible (15th cent.), Catalan terrible (14th cent.), Spanish terrible (end of the 13th cent.), Portuguese terrível (15th cent. as †terribel , †terribil ), Italian terribile (early 14th cent.). With use as noun compare post-classical Latin terribilia (neuter plural) terrible marvels (Vulgate), French terrible terrible thing (1669). With use as adverb compare slightly earlier terribly adv.With the forms in -able compare -able suffix. A. adj.the mind > emotion > fear > quality of inspiring fear > quality of terribleness > [adjective] c1400 tr. Aelred of Rievaulx (Vernon) (1984) 57 (MED) Byholde þe horrour..his chaar þat be terrible as eny tempest. a1439 J. Lydgate (Bodl. 263) vi. l. 30 (MED) Hir face seemyng cruel & terrible, And bi disdeyn manacyng of look. 1490 W. Caxton tr. xv. 58 Wherof was made a monstre fulle terrible, that hath as many eyen in her hede..as she hathe fedders vpon her. ?1507 W. Dunbar Tua Mariit Wemen (Rouen) in (1998) I. 48 With a terrebill tail..stangand as edderis. a1525 (c1448) R. Holland Bk. Howlat l. 620 in W. A. Craigie (1925) II. 114 That terrible felloun my spreit affrayd. 1562 W. Bullein Bk. Simples f. 37, in Doth kepe the minde..from tirable and fearefull dreames. 1565 in J. A. Picton (1883) I. 108 The marvelloussest and terriblest storm. 1586 R. Lane Acct. in R. Hakluyt (1589) 743 The Mangoaks (whose name, and multitude besides their valour is terrible to al the rest of the provinces). 1612 J. Brinsley xxvii. 277 In verie many schooles..the whole gouernment maintained only by continuall and terrible whipping. 1638 J. Ford i. 8 What a terrible sight to a lib'd breech is a sow gelder? a1661 Earl of Monmouth tr. P. G. Capriata (1663) x. 371 A French-like fury, more terrible then the raging of the Sea. 1721 J. Strype II. i. v. 36 Punished..to the terrible example of all others. 1791 W. Cowper tr. Homer Iliad in I. iv. 515 The Greeks..With martial order terrible advanced. 1835 R. M. Bird I. vi. 86 The gigantic beast, whose voice was to him..more terrible than the yell of the mountain tiger. 1871 A. C. Swinburne in July 62 Superb instances of terrible beauty undeformed by horrible detail. a1933 J. A. Thomson (1934) II. 892 Fafnir, the terrible nine-headed dragon whom Sigurd slew. 1951 S. H. Bell i. viii. 63 Martha's God was a terrible but hearkening God. 2009 21 Nov. 4/4 10% of children in the UK suffer from ‘night terrors’... Most of them grow out of it but at least 2% of adults carry on having terrible, vivid dreams. 2. the mind > emotion > suffering > mental anguish or torment > [adjective] > severe the world > relative properties > quantity > greatness of quantity, amount, or degree > high or intense degree > [adjective] > very great or extreme 1509 S. Hawes (de Worde) sig. A.ii The cruell swerers whiche do god assayle On euery syde his swete body to tere With terryble othes as often as they swere. 1565 in D. H. Fleming (1889) I. 235 Bursting owt wyth tearis throw the aufull and terrebyll fear. 1596 J. Dalrymple tr. J. Leslie (1888) I. 128 Thair constant amitie..to thair nychtbouris the Britanis brocht a terrabill feir. 1628 J. Earle xxx. sig. F4v He is a terrible fastner on a piece of Beefe. 1670 A. Marvell Let. 21 Mar. in (1971) II. 314 The terrible Bill against Conventicles. 1725 A. Pope IV. 7 'Tis not impossible it might have been filled up with—Francis Drake—tho' that were a terrible anachronism. 1779 No. 41. ⁋6 I was told it was a great way off, and over terrible mountains. 1829 E. Bulwer-Lytton I. i. ii. 11 He was a terrible caviller at the holy mysteries of catholicism. 1879 F. Rogers & M. Holmes (typescript) i. 30 Ah Bertie, I'm afraid you are a terrible flirt. 1939 G. B. Shaw i. 7 Just as I have my terrible weakness for figures Mr. Rowley has a very similar weakness for women. 1965 E. J. Howard vii. 100 Her mother had made his life so terrible—not worth living. 2008 8 Feb. 43/3 There are also animals that are miscarrying..because of the terrible cold. society > morality > moral evil > wickedness > [adjective] > extremely wicked c1510 H. Watson tr. sig. E.iv Whan ye se a terryble horse that wyll not suffre that they mount vppon hym..saye to hym in his ere these wordes. 1562 W. Bullein Bk. Use Sicke Men f. lij, in A terrible childe..whiche if he bee not corrected, and banished awaie, wyll be hys fathers death. 1694 C. Cotton tr. L. Pontis ii. iv. 220 He was a terrible man, when he was set upon mischief. 1721 R. Samber tr. A. de La Motte ii. 185 La Fontaine calls the Wind that tore up the Oak by the Roots, The most terrible Child that till then the North Wind ever bore. 1843 C. Dickens (1844) xxiv. 300 ‘Oh you terrible old man!’ cried the facetious Merry to herself. 1859 C. Reade I. i. 6 He was a terrible infant, not a horrible one. 1926 A. Huxley 25 Peddley was not the man to be put out by even the most terrible of terrible infants. 1970 C. Hampton v. 69 All the men I fall in love with turn out to be such terrible people. 1978 M. Cadogan & P. Craig x. 222 Violet Elizabeth, the terrible child of the William books. 2002 Feb. 26/2 I went from being known as a more terrible person than that, so I'm not even tripping about how people perceive me. the mind > goodness and badness > inferiority or baseness > [adjective] > very 1775 Mar. 233 Ay, take care, Reader, for this writer is a terrible poet, we assure you. 1796 G. Wakefield in A. Pope IV. xvii. 167 (note) Terrible rhymes indeed for such a poet! 1877 R. De B. Trotter ii. 48 He was a terrible singer, and had a powerful voice, and roared horridly. 1948 C. Fry 20 As far as he can remember, Though he has a terrible memory for names, His name is Merlin. 1964 in C. Hamblett & J. Deverson 88 He was hopeless—you follow me?—terrible in bed. That's why his missus left him..to himself. 1979 ‘J. le Carré’ xxi. 292 She's a terrible driver, George. And I mean terrible. 2007 D. Halberstam viii. 427 Keiser was blamed for the division's terrible performance on its most tragic day. B. adv.the mind > goodness and badness > state of being accursed > [adverb] > as everyday imprecation the mind > emotion > fear > quality of inspiring fear > quality of terribleness > [adverb] the world > relative properties > quantity > greatness of quantity, amount, or degree > high or intense degree > [adverb] > extremely or exceedingly > specifically of something bad 1490 W. Caxton tr. (1885) i. 42 The duke..spored hys horse terryble. 1578 T. Churchyard 12 The season was then so terrible cold, that all the way we had but Snowe and sleete in oure faces. 1606 S. Gardiner 13 The world is a Sea..terrible salt thorough sin. a1614 J. Melville (1842) 237 Uzzia, the King of Juda, was sa terrible plagget, and his haill land schaken. 1634 T. Herbert 5 The weather being terrible hot. 1796 J. Austen 9 Jan. (1995) 1 We were so terrible good as to take James in our carriage. 1825 J. Neal 106 Seen him afore to-day, I guess; haint you, Mister? turrible sharp feller, as ever you seed. 1877 E. A. Freeman in (1895) II. viii. 158 I was in a terrible bad way. 1901 M. Franklin xxxi. 270 The old yeos [ewes] looks terrible skinny. 1926 E. O'Neill Prol. 16 My mother used to believe the full of the moon was the time to sow. She was terrible old-fashioned. 1942 L. Hughes 90 He mistreated her terrible. 1990 B. Roche i. iii. 31 She misses you terrible of course. C. n.the mind > emotion > fear > quality of inspiring fear > quality of terribleness > [noun] > one who or that which terrifies 1606 Bp. J. Hall xv. 100 The last and greatest of all terribles, Death it selfe. 1682 J. Flavell (new ed.) ii. 9 Job calls it the King of terrours..or the most terrible of terribles. a1732 T. Boston (1791) i. 92 Death is of all terribles the most terrible, and is therefore called the king of terrors. 1826 J. Clare 14 Mar. (1985) 379 You can keep away the ‘bluedevils’ & the other humbugs of misery in these terribles. 1850 J. Struthers II. 149 One has, between Grecian and Gothic story, generated a new race of terribles. 1903 12 147 Pater is but the most perfect example of the mood of the age, an age that is above all things pitiful, especially of death which is of all terribles still the most terrible. 1983 R. Sampson II. 90 Through the Nick Carter stories these terribles flow, a mazy stream of them. No softies here. Compounds1713 C. Shadwell v. 59 I met that Terrible looking Fellow, my Rival just now. 1794 A. Radcliffe III. iv. 153 A party of the enemy..are coming towards the castle;..all those terrible-looking fellows one used to see at Venice. 1844 tr. F. H. K. de La Motte Fouqué ii. 5/1 Upon the stairs I was met by two strange and terrible-looking people whom I had never seen before. 1876 ‘G. Eliot’ IV. vii. liv. 109 He seemed to her a terrible-browed angel. 1946 1 June 63/3 (advt.) That terrible-tasting stuff he used to make me take was so high-powered that it would just about floor me! 1999 (Nexis) 4 Apr. (Sports Day section) 2 b The terrible-tempered Kevin Brown. C2. 1856 C. Reade III. xxii. 219 Lust and hate, terrible twins, stung that dark heart to frenzy. 1915 A. B. Emerson xvi. 130 It was because of the ‘terrible twins’ that Ruth had gotten Sadie to talk at all. 2005 D. Wright viii. 159 She dragged him into some of her naughty situations and they became the ‘terrible twins’. 1950 (title of film) The terrible twos and the trusting threes. [Produced for the Department of National Health and Welfare, Canada]. 1988 R. Hillis in G. Ursell 42 Dad thought of Mom, pregnant again, frantic with a boy in his terrible twos. 2002 Mar. 66/1 Ask any parent about ‘the terrible twos’ and they'll think of tantrums and an uncontrollable toddler. This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, September 2011; most recently modified version published online June 2022). <  adj.adv.n.c1400 |
