different between terrible vs unspeakable
terrible
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)
- Dreadful; causing terror, alarm and fear; awesome
- 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.
- 1883: Robert Louis Stevenson, Treasure Island
- Intense; extreme in degree or extent.
- Unpleasant; disagreeable.
- Very bad; lousy.
Synonyms
- See also Thesaurus:frightening
Antonyms
- (very bad): excellent
Adverb
terrible (comparative more terrible, superlative most terrible)
- (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)
- terrible (causing fear)
- terrible (formidable, intense)
French
Etymology
From Latin terribilis
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /t?.?ibl/
Adjective
terrible (plural terribles)
- (all senses) terrible
- (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)
- terrible, awful, horrible (very bad)
- appalling (shocking, causing consternation)
- 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.
terrible From the web:
- what terrible thing it was
- what terrible mean
- when terrible things happen
- when something terrible happens
- what is the terrible awful thing in the help
unspeakable
English
Etymology
From Middle English unspekable, equivalent to un- +? speakable.
Pronunciation
Adjective
unspeakable (comparative more unspeakable, superlative most unspeakable)
- Incapable of being spoken or uttered
- Synonyms: unutterable, ineffable, inexpressible
- 1855-1882, Walt Whitman, Leaves of Grass, book xv,
- The endless pride and outstretching of man, unspeakable joys and sorrows.
- Unfit or not permitted to be spoken or described.
- 1916, James Joyce, A Portrait Of The Artist As A Young Man, ch. 3,
- The miser will remember his hoard of gold, the robber his ill-gotten wealth, the angry and revengeful and merciless murderers their deeds of blood and violence in which they revelled, the impure and adulterous the unspeakable and filthy pleasures in which they delighted.
- 1916, James Joyce, A Portrait Of The Artist As A Young Man, ch. 3,
- Extremely bad or objectionable.
- an unspeakable fool
- an unspeakable play
- 1926, H.P. Lovecraft, The Outsider,
- Yet to my horror I saw in its eaten-away and bone-revealing outlines a leering, abhorrent travesty on the human shape; and in its mouldy, disintegrating apparel an unspeakable quality that chilled me even more.
Synonyms
- See also Thesaurus:indescribable
Derived terms
- unspeakably
- unspeakableness
Translations
References
- unspeakable in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, G. & C. Merriam, 1913.
- “unspeakable” in Dictionary.com Unabridged, Dictionary.com, LLC, 1995–present.
- "unspeakable" in the Wordsmyth Dictionary-Thesaurus (Wordsmyth, 2002)
- "unspeakable" in Cambridge Advanced Learner's Dictionary (Cambridge University Press, 2007)
- “unspeakable”, in Lexico, Dictionary.com; Oxford University Press, 2019–present.
- "unspeakable" at Rhymezone (Datamuse, 2006).
- Oxford English Dictionary, second edition (1989)
Scots
Etymology
un- +? speak +? -able
Adjective
unspeakable (comparative mair unspeakable, superlative maist unspeakable)
- unspeakable
unspeakable From the web:
- what unspeakable phone number
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- what unspeakable's number
- what unspeakable is like off camera
- what's unspeakables address
- what's unspeakables last name
- what's unspeakables roblox name
- what's unspeakables server
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