a mind is a terrible thing to waste
One should put one's mental faculties to good use.
terrible
/ˈtɛɹəbl̩/
adj 5adv 1
Collocations
6(adj.)
VERBS
be, look, seem, sound
ADV
really, truly
The food at that restaurant was truly terrible, so we never went back.
absolutely, just, quite, simply
The food at that restaurant was absolutely terrible, so we never went back.
pretty, rather
not very
The storm last night was not very terrible, so we didn't need to leave our homes.
PREP
for
Losing his job was terrible for his family's finances that year.
Definitions
adj
1
Dreadful; causing terror, alarm and fear; awesome
The witch laid a terrible curse on him.
People who have not been in Narnia sometimes think that a thing cannot be good and terrible at the same time. If the children had ever thought so, they were cured of it now. For when they tried to look at Aslan's face they just caught a glimpse of the golden mane and the great, royal, solemn, overwhelming eyes; and then they found they couldn't look at him and went all trembly.
2
Formidable, powerful.
[…]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.
"He is the right sort of man for a labourer, but he is a terrible eater, to be sure," thought the farmer.
3
Intense; extreme in degree or extent.
He paid a terrible price for his life of drinking.
‘Then the father has a great fight with his terrible conscience,’ said Munday with granite seriousness. ‘Should he make a row with the police […]? Or should he say nothing about it and condone brutality for fear of appearing in the newspapers?
4
Very unpleasant; disagreeable.
The food was terrible, but it was free.
To Edward […] he was terrible, nerve-inflaming, poisonously asphyxiating. He sat rocking himself in the late Mr. Churchill's swing chair, smoking and twaddling.
5
Very bad; lousy.
Whatever he thinks, he is a terrible driver.
The openly ridiculous plot has The Pirate Captain (Hugh Grant) scheming to win the Pirate Of The Year competition, even though he’s a terrible pirate, far outclassed by rivals voiced by Jeremy Piven and Salma Hayek.
adv
1
In a terrible way; to a terrible extent; terribly; awfully.
‘Oh, terrible bad, sir, terrible deep the snow is,’ said the hedgehog.
Thesaurus
Synonyms
adjective — exceptionally bad or displeasing
adjective — extreme in degree or extent or amount or impact
Antonyms
Idioms & Phrases
Example Bank
601
The witch laid a terrible curse on him.
Wiktionary02
People who have not been in Narnia sometimes think that a thing cannot be good and terrible at the same time. If the children had ever thought so, they were cured of it now. For when they tried to loo
Wiktionary03
[…]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 Eng
Wiktionary04
‘Oh, terrible bad, sir, terrible deep the snow is,’ said the hedgehog.
Wiktionary05
A terrible fate awaited him.
Tatoeba · #1916006
I feel terrible about my mistake.
Tatoeba · #23615Usage Notes
i Register
In some senses, terrible is marked as colloquial. Watch for register when choosing this word.
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