different between terrible vs dirty

English

Etymology

From Middle English terrible, from Old French, from Latin terribilis (“frightful”), from terre? (“I frighten, terrify, alarm; I deter by terror, scare (away)”). Compare terror, deter.

Pronunciation

• (UK) IPA^(key): /?t?.??.bl?/, /?t?.??.bl?/
• Homophone: tearable, in some accents

Adjective

terrible (comparative terribler or more terrible, superlative terriblest or most terrible)

1. Dreadful; causing terror, alarm and fear; awesome

2. Formidable, powerful.
   • 1883: Robert Louis Stevenson, Treasure Island

     […] and there was even a party of the younger men who pretended to admire him, calling him a "true sea-dog," and "real old salt," and such-like names, and saying there was the sort of man that made England terrible at sea.
3. Intense; extreme in degree or extent.

4. Unpleasant; disagreeable.

5. Very bad; lousy.

Synonyms

• See also Thesaurus:frightening

Antonyms

• (very bad): excellent

Adverb

terrible (comparative more terrible, superlative most terrible)

1. (colloquial, dialect) In a terrible way; to a terrible extent; terribly; awfully.

Related terms

Translations

Further reading

• terrible in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, G. & C. Merriam, 1913.
• terrible in The Century Dictionary, New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., 1911.

Anagrams

• treblier

Catalan

Pronunciation

• (Balearic, Central) IPA^(key): /t??ri.bl?/
• (Valencian) IPA^(key): /te?ri.ble/

Adjective

terrible (masculine and feminine plural terribles)

1. terrible (causing fear)
2. terrible (formidable, intense)

French

Etymology

From Latin terribilis

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /t?.?ibl/

Adjective

terrible (plural terribles)

1. (all senses) terrible
2. (colloquial) great, excellent

Derived terms

• enfant terrible

Related terms

• terreur
• terriblement
• terrifier

Further reading

• “terrible” in Trésor de la langue française informatisé (The Digitized Treasury of the French Language).

Spanish

Etymology

From Latin terribilis. Cognate with English terrible.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /te?rible/, [t?e?ri.??le]
• Hyphenation: te?rri?ble

Adjective

terrible (plural terribles)

1. terrible, awful, horrible (very bad)
2. appalling (shocking, causing consternation)
3. terrific (very great or intense)

Derived terms

• terribilísimo
• terriblemente

Related terms

• terror

Further reading

• “terrible” in Diccionario de la lengua española, Vigésima tercera edición, Real Academia Española, 2014.

English

Etymology

From Middle English dirti, alteration of earlier dritti, equivalent to dirt +? -y. See also drite.

Pronunciation

• (UK) IPA^(key): /?d??ti/
• (General American) IPA^(key): /?d?ti/, [?d??i]
• Rhymes: -??(?)ti

Adjective

dirty (comparative dirtier, superlative dirtiest)

1. Unclean; covered with or containing unpleasant substances such as dirt or grime.

   Synonyms: filthy, soiled, sordid, unclean, unwashed; see also Thesaurus:unclean

   Antonyms: clean; see also Thesaurus:clean

2. That makes one unclean; corrupting, infecting.

3. Morally unclean; obscene or indecent, especially sexually.

   Synonyms: indecent, lewd, obscene, raunchy, salacious

4. Dishonourable; violating accepted standards or rules.

   Synonyms: cheating, foul, unsporting, unsportsmanlike

   Antonym: sportsmanlike

5. Corrupt, illegal, or improper.

   Synonyms: base, dishonest, dishonorable, filthy, despicable, lousy, mean, sordid, unethical, vile

6. Out of tune.

7. Of color, discolored by impurities.

   Synonyms: dingy, dullish, muddied, muddy

   Antonyms: bright, pure

8. (computing) Containing data needing to be written back to memory or disk.

9. (slang) Carrying illegal drugs among one's possessions or inside of one's bloodstream.

10. (informal) Used as an intensifier, especially in conjunction with "great".

11. Sleety; gusty; stormy.
    • 1867, Matthew Arnold, On the Study of Celtic Literature

      Storms of wind, clouds of dust, an angry, dirty sea.

12. (slang) Of an alcoholic beverage, especially a cocktail or mixed drink: served with the juice of olives.

    Antonym: neat

13. Of food, indulgent in an unhealthy way.
    • 2020, Mellissa Sevigny, Squeaky Clean Keto: Next Level Keto to Hack Your Health, Victory Belt Publishing (?ISBN), page 13:

      Dirty keto refers to an approach that follows the typical keto macro ratios, but the components include “dirty” foods like fast food, packaged convenience foods, processed meats, artificially sweetened diet sodas and sports drinks, and unhealthy ...

14. Spreading harmful radiation over a wide area.

    a dirty explosion

    a dirty bomb

15. (Utah) Of a carbonated soft drink (soda or coke), the addition of an extra flavor shot, such as those sold by chains Sodalicious and Swig

Derived terms

Translations

Adverb

dirty (comparative more dirty, superlative most dirty)

1. In a dirty manner.

   Synonyms: deceptively, dirtily, indecently, underhandedly

Derived terms

• talk dirty

Translations

Verb

dirty (third-person singular simple present dirties, present participle dirtying, simple past and past participle dirtied)

1. (transitive) To make (something) dirty.

   Synonyms: soil, taint; see also Thesaurus:dirty

2. (transitive) To stain or tarnish (somebody) with dishonor.

   Synonym: sully

3. (transitive) To debase by distorting the real nature of (something).
4. (intransitive) To become soiled.

Translations

References