terrific
Language: English
Part of speech: adj
Pronunciation: ipa: /təˈɹɪfɪk/
rhymes: -ɪfɪk
Forms: form: more terrific
form: most terrific
form: terrifick
Etymology: From French terrifique, and its source, Latin terrificus (“terrifying”), from terrere (“to frighten, terrify”) + -ficus, from facere (“to make”).
The "excellent, amazing" sense is an ameliorative semantic shift from the original sense of "terrifying". Compare similar semantic development in sick and wicked.
Senses: examples: text: [T]he diſmal ſhrieks of demoniac rage […] rouſed phantoms of horror in her mind, far more terrific than all that dreaming ſuperſtition ever drew.
ref: 1798, Mary Wollstonecraft Godwin, “[Maria: or, The] Wrongs of Woman”, in W[illiam] Godwin, editor, Posthumous Works of the Author of A Vindication of the Rights of Woman. […], volume I, London: […] J[oseph] Johnson, […]; and G[eorge,] G[eorge] and J[ohn] Robinson, […], →OCLC, chapter III, page 50:
text: Think of wandering amid sepulchral ruins, of stumbling over the bones of the dead, of encountering what I cannot describe,—the horror of being among those who are neither the living or the dead;—those dark and shadowless things that sport themselves with the reliques of the dead, and feast and love amid corruption,—ghastly, mocking, and terrific.
ref: 1820, [Charles Robert Maturin], Melmoth the Wanderer: A Tale. […], volume II, Edinburgh: […] Archibald Constable and Company, and Hurst, Robinson, and Co., […], →OCLC, page 154:
text: He made love in a coach and six, and married in a coach and twelve, and all his horses were milk-white horses with one red spot on the back which he caused to be hidden by the harness. For, the spot would come there, though every horse was milk-white when Captain Murderer bought him. And the spot was young bride's blood. (To this terrific point I am indebted for my first personal experience of a shudder and cold beads on the forehead.)
ref: 1860, Charles Dickens, Captain Murderer:
synonyms: word: affreux
word: alarming
word: spine-tingling
word: appalling
word: awful
word: buggish
word: butt-clenching
word: buttock-clenching
word: dismayful
word: dreadful
word: fearful
word: flaysome
word: flesh-crawling
word: formidable
word: freaky
word: frightening
word: frightensome
word: frightful
word: ghastly
word: ghostly
word: grisly
word: hair-curling
word: hair-raising
word: horrible
word: horrid
word: horrific
word: horrifying
word: horripilating
word: pulse-pounding
word: scaring
word: scary
word: shocking
word: skin-crawling
word: terrible
word: terrifying
word: terrorsome
glosses: Terrifying, causing terror; terrible; sublime, awe-inspiring.
examples: text: The car came round the bend at a terrific speed.
text: I've got a terrific hangover this morning.
text: The ſtar tremulous turn'd its thundering poles, and the whole creation reſounded; when, with terrific haſte, Adamida, in obediance to the divine command, flew amidſt overwhelming ſtorms, ruſhing clouds, falling mountains, and ſwelling ſeas.
ref: 1769, Joseph Collyer, transl., The Messiah, 4th edition, page 280:
text: When the warriors saw this, their cheers were terrific.
ref: 1943, H. Lorna Bingham, The Lost Tribe, Sydney: Winn and Co., page 23, column 2:
text: From Atlantic to Pacific / Gee, the traffic is terrific.
ref: 1954, “(There's No Place Like) Home for the Holidays”, Al Stillman (lyrics), Robert Allen (music):
glosses: Very strong or intense; excessive, tremendous.
examples: text: I say! She's a terrific tennis player.
glosses: Extremely good; excellent, amazing.
Synonyms: brilliant
horrific
Related terms: terrible
terrify
terrifying
terror
terrorist
terrorize