Terrific usually means excellent or wonderful: That's terrific news! It can also mean very strong or very big, as in a terrific storm. More on that trap below.
Wait… TERROR → TERRIFIC?
Look at this family:
terror: intense fear
terrify: to scare someone badly
terrifying: very scary
terrific: … excellent?
Three of these words are about being frightened. The fourth is something you say when a friend passes their swimming test.
How did the scary family end up with a cousin who gives compliments?
The Original "Terrific"
When terrific first appeared in English, in the 1660s, it meant exactly what its family suggests: frightening, dreadful, something that fills you with terror.
It comes from a Latin word meaning causing terror, built from a verb meaning to frighten. The same root gives us terror, terrify and terrible.
The Meaning Journey
The change happened in two big steps.
- From scary to strong. Something terrifying is usually extreme: a huge storm, a massive noise. Over time the fear faded but the extremeness stayed. By the early 1800s, terrific could simply mean very great, intense or severe.
- From strong to excellent. Later in the 1800s, people began using terrific in a relaxed, enthusiastic way for things that were very good. That's the meaning you'll hear most today.
The original "frightening" meaning is still listed in dictionaries, but it's rare. You're very unlikely to meet it.
Terrific Storms and Terrific Headaches
Here's the trap: the middle step, very strong, is still normal English.
A terrific storm hit the coast last night.
This storm wasn't excellent. It was very strong.
A simple way to tell:
- If the thing is normally good or neutral (news, a day, an idea, a performance), terrific means excellent.
- If the thing is normally bad (a storm, a noise, a headache, a crash), terrific means very big or very strong.
Terrific vs Terrible vs Terrifying
All three grew from the same frightening root. Today they point in three different directions:
terrifying → kept the fear. a terrifying ghost story
terrible → went bad. a terrible cold
terrific → went good, or just big. a terrific party
Terrible took a similar road: it also began with dread, and it also became a general word for "very". But it stayed on the negative side, while terrific crossed over to the positive one.
So a terrific movie is one you'd recommend. A terrifying movie is one you watch through your fingers. A terrible movie is one you'd ask for your money back on.
Terrified or Terrifying?
Two members of the family are easy to mix up:
- terrified = how you feel. I was terrified during the thunderstorm.
- terrifying = what causes the feeling. The thunderstorm was terrifying.
The -ed word describes the person; the -ing word describes the thing.
Natural Modern Usage
People use terrific to show warm, enthusiastic approval:
- praise: You did a terrific job on the poster.
- a great experience: We had a terrific time at the museum.
- good news: "I got into the team!" "Terrific!"
It's friendly and positive, and sounds natural in conversation and in friendly messages.
Word Family
- terror (noun): intense fear.
- terrify (verb): to frighten someone badly.
- terrified (adjective): feeling very frightened.
- terrifying (adjective): causing great fear.
- terrible / terribly: very bad, or informally just very. I'm terribly sorry means I'm very sorry, not something bad.
- terrific / terrifically: excellent, or very great.
The words that kept the fear are terror, terrify, terrified and terrifying. The ones that changed are terrible and terrific.
Natural Examples
Your science poster is terrific. Can I show it to the class?
We had a terrific day at the beach, and nobody got sunburnt.
The wind made a terrific noise all night, and a branch fell on the shed.
The haunted-house ride was terrifying, but the fireworks afterwards were terrific.
Common Mistakes
A terrific storm isn't a good storm.
❌ "A terrific storm hit the town" means the weather was lovely.
✅ It means the storm was very strong.
Scary things are terrifying, not terrific.
❌ The ghost story was so terrific that I couldn't sleep.
✅ The ghost story was so terrifying that I couldn't sleep.
Feeling or cause?
❌ I was terrifying when the lights went out.
✅ I was terrified when the lights went out.
"Terribly sorry" is polite.
❌ "I'm terribly sorry" means the person is sorry in a bad way.
✅ It means "I'm very sorry".
In a Conversation
Nora: How was the camping trip?
Ben: The first night was terrifying. A terrific storm blew our tent over!
Nora: That sounds terrible!
Ben: It was, but the rest of the week was terrific.
Terrifying (scary), terrific storm (very strong), terrible (bad), terrific week (excellent): the whole family, in four lines.
The OddLingo Timeline
terror (Latin root: to frighten)
↓
terrific, 1660s: causing terror, frightening
↓
by the early 1800s: very great, intense, severe (a terrific storm), still used today
↓
later 1800s, informally: excellent, wonderful (That's terrific!)
The OddLingo Takeaway
Same frightening root, three different endings. Terrifying still scares you, terrible went bad, and terrific became a compliment.
Now compare awful, which grew from awe and went the other way, from awe-inspiring to terrible. English words don't just change; sometimes they swap sides.
Quick Check
- "A terrific storm knocked down three trees on our street." Was the storm good?
- The fireworks were so ______ that everyone cheered. (terrific / terrifying)
- Maya was ______ when she heard a noise in the dark. (terrified / terrifying)
- Your friend says, "You did a terrific job!" Is that a compliment?
Answers
- No. Here terrific means very strong, because storms are normally bad.
- terrific: people cheer for excellent fireworks.
- terrified: that's how Maya felt.
- Yes. It means you did an excellent job.