adjective
COLLOCATIONS FROM OTHER ENTRIES
a bad/terrible joke (= not funny )
▪
Dad was known for his bad jokes.
a bad/terrible storm
▪
This was the worst storm for 50 years.
a bad/terrible/dreadful etc mistake
▪
It would be a terrible mistake to marry him.
a bad/terrible/nasty temper
▪
He ran back home in a terrible temper.
a crying/great/terrible shame
▪
It was a crying shame that they lost the game.
a dark/terrible secret (= a secret about something bad )
▪
I’m sure every family has a few dark secrets.
a horrific/terrible/appalling crash
▪
a horrific crash in which three teenage boys were killed
a real/awful/terrible etc nuisance
▪
The dogs next door are a real nuisance.
a serious/terrible misunderstanding
▪
There have been some serious misunderstandings which have led to conflict.
a severe/terrible/awful blow
▪
The news was a terrible blow for his family.
a terrible dilemma
▪
She was in a terrible dilemma because she loved both men.
a terrible disaster
▪
It was a terrible disaster which carried away a large part of the hillside.
a terrible misfortune
▪
At that time, being thin was considered a terrible misfortune for women.
a terrible price
▪
The sport can exact a terrible price from its participants.
a terrible scream (= by someone suffering great pain or fear )
▪
We were woken late that night by the most terrible screams.
a terrible state
▪
His apartment was in a terrible state.
a terrible strain
▪
It’s been a terrible strain.
a terrible/awful revenge
▪
Caesar returned to Rome to exact a terrible revenge.
a terrible/awful shock
▪
Her death was a terrible shock to everyone.
a terrible/dreadful etc flirt (= someone who flirts a lot )
▪
She’s an incorrigible flirt!
a terrible/dreadful ordeal
▪
The trial was a dreadful ordeal.
a terrible/great tragedy
▪
His death is a terrible tragedy for his family.
a terrible/horrible/grim fate
▪
The crew of the ship met a terrible fate.
a terrible/horrific crime ( also a dreadful crime British English )
▪
What made him commit such a terrible crime?
a terrible/poor/rotten liar (= who does not tell believable lies )
▪
You're a rotten liar, Julia. What really happened?
a terrible/stupid/odd etc thing to say
▪
I know it’s a terrible thing to say, but I wish he’d just go away.
awful/dreadful/terrible weather
▪
We came home early because of the awful weather.
bad/poor/terrible
▪
A student with a poor memory may struggle in school.
bad/poor/terrible/awful
▪
Why do doctors have such terrible handwriting?
bad/terrible
▪
The traffic was terrible this morning.
bad/terrible (= with many spots or marks )
▪
I had terrible skin when I was a teenager.
▪
My skin’s really bad at the moment.
bad/terrible/severe
▪
I’ve got a really bad headache.
enfant terrible
have a good/terrible etc time
▪
Thanks for everything – we had a great time.
in good/bad/terrible etc condition
▪
How do you keep your hair in such perfect condition?
terrible news (= very bad )
terrible toothache
▪
I had terrible toothache all last night.
terrible trouble
▪
I’ve been having terrible trouble sleeping.
terrible (= very bad )
▪
Some of the victims suffered terrible injuries.
terrible/awful
▪
I woke up with a terrible pain in my side.
the awful/terrible/dreadful etc truth
▪
She could not bring herself to tell them the awful truth.
COLLOCATIONS FROM CORPUS
■ ADVERB
how
▪
Suddenly I realized how terrible the fight would be for Elizabeth.
▪
It's enough for him to remind you just how terrible the other congregation is.
▪
By Andrew Rawnsley HOW terrible it can be when your dreams come true.
▪
He complained to me about how terrible it was.
▪
She couldn't wait until she was old. How terrible to be thirty and not to have realised one's ambitions!
▪
You listen to how good you are, then how terrible you are.
▪
She realized how terrible the noises of war must be.
▪
They begin their pitch by emphasizing how terrible it is to be fat.
more
▪
For the yellow menace.was even bigger and more terrible than they knew.
▪
Earth gave birth to her last and most frightful offspring, a creature more terrible than any that had gone before.
▪
The hopeless cry came again, louder, nearer, and more terrible than before.
▪
Hermes warned him that if he persisted in his stubborn silence, he should suffer still more terrible things.
▪
As time passed, the face in the picture grew slowly more terrible .
▪
For Dorian, this was more terrible than the dead body in the room.
▪
For a long time she waited, and nothing more terrible came to enter that silence than her own dark imaginings.
▪
But do you not think the life of the Thirties, the daily life, was much more terrible ?
most
▪
The most terrible bad form. 5.
▪
And there Dionysus showed himself in his most terrible aspect.
▪
That question was decided for her in a most terrible way.
▪
The fire was the most terrible enemy our men met that day.
▪
And they've left the most terrible mess in their bedrooms.
▪
It seemed to concern his father and the stranger, and as such, must be of the most terrible importance.
▪
The most terrible , awful thing that could have happened.
▪
Bob Dole is the most terrible of the candidates for the Republican nomination, until you consider all the others.
so
▪
Oh, but the damage was so terrible , the mess so unspeakable, that he did not know where to begin.
▪
The smell is so terrible you want to throw up.
▪
At first I thought he would learn because he made us look so terrible .
▪
Nothing half so terrible had happened to her; no one she loved had been killed or even hurt.
▪
Its disappearance was quickly succeeded by the explosion. So terrible a spectacle is seldom witnessed.
▪
His screams were so terrible that none who ever heard them forgot them till their dying day.
▪
All the sentences they give me to say are so terrible .
■ NOUN
accident
▪
His body felt that it had been in a terrible accident .
▪
A terrible accident befalling strangers but truly affecting each of us so deeply.
▪
One slip or lapse and a terrible accident would never be far away.
▪
Because of this terrible accident , we have been offered some-thing precious.
▪
For a moment he thought he had been in a terrible accident .
▪
If it was murder and not some terrible accident .
▪
And he felt, obscurely, that the terrible accident needed to be given coherent thought.
condition
▪
It was hard to imagine that children were willingly enduring such terrible conditions .
▪
They were in terrible condition , Scotch tape on some of them, others all beat up and scuffed and folded.
▪
Roads in the liberated areas are few and in terrible condition .
▪
When she was dumped she was in terrible condition , coping with seven young pups.
▪
The population in the north and east are now living in terrible conditions .
▪
Disorder was accentuated by the terrible conditions .
▪
Q My hair is in terrible condition .
danger
▪
But what could be strong enough to drive a man from his homeland, to face terrible dangers in the skies?
▪
Yet he must consider that possibility, for if it was true, he was in terrible danger .
▪
But now they're in terrible danger .
▪
But what probably worried them more was the terrible danger Berthold was putting himself in.
event
▪
On the first two occasions it preceded some terrible event , so he is in a state of great apprehension.
▪
And how will the fractured Cappadora family survive this terrible event ?
▪
Police added that at one stage he had trouble in speaking about the terrible events .
▪
As Theseus listened, overwhelmed by this sum of terrible events , Hippolytus still breathing was carried in.
▪
There are three lessons to be drawn from this terrible event .
▪
Felix Jaeger cursed the dark destiny that had dragged him into these terrible events .
▪
The valley seemed to be waiting, holding its breath in anticipation of some terrible event .
▪
As he regains consciousness, he gradually remembers the terrible events of the last few days.
injury
▪
The couple have had months of treatment for their terrible injuries .
▪
I looked after her, feeling like some one who has just sustained a terrible injury from which he will never recover.
▪
This is a good quality in that we will fight on despite terrible injuries , Sir.
▪
The appeal was launched with the help of former patients whose recovery from terrible injuries has been helped by such treatment.
▪
They were horrified the next morning when they saw that the child was covered in terrible injuries .
▪
Both badgers and terriers often suffer terrible injuries .
▪
Police said yesterday the terrible injuries on their bodies, washed up on a beach, could be deceptive.
mistake
▪
Have I made a terrible mistake ?
▪
I made the terrible mistake of returning home to Cheyenne to practice law.
▪
Once I drank too much and spent the night with her, which was a terrible mistake .
▪
I wanted to make up for the terrible mistakes I had made during his childhood and youth.
▪
It was all a terrible mistake .
▪
I was afraid that if I appeared too eager, it might dawn on the woman she had made a terrible mistake .
▪
Frankly, it all looked like a terrible mistake .
▪
Rcagan had no choice but to withdraw the Marines, and in effect admit a terrible mistake .
news
▪
What terrible news could it contain?
▪
Sit down, Benjamin, I have terrible news .
▪
He was, in fact, trying to break the terrible news gently to his father.
▪
A few hours later came the terrible news .
▪
At last I could share my terrible news with my friend.
▪
At this last, Seton left them, to make for his own castle near Cockenzie, with his terrible news .
▪
The man Who laughs is merely some one Who has not yet heard the terrible news .
▪
It is terrible news for publicists and headline hunters everywhere but the secret has to be revealed.
ordeal
▪
It must have been a terrible ordeal .
▪
I have no doubt this has been a terrible ordeal for you and the verdict is a personal and professional catastrophe.
▪
Having a will professionally drawn up is not a terrible ordeal and it need not take long to explain your wishes.
▪
It was a terrible ordeal for my hon. and learned Friend and for his family.
▪
The strain has been a terrible ordeal .
pain
▪
It was five minutes before he stopped yelling, before he started to absorb the terrible pain that burnt through his flesh.
▪
She looked into his eyes and saw terrible pain and inconsolable grief.
▪
In the terrible pain and surprise of the moment, both my pistols went off and fell from my hands.
▪
He wanted to, but to be so close would expose him to that terrible pain of loss.
▪
And after about three days, I was in terrible pain and started to bleed a lot.
▪
It did not last but the parting seems to have been no terrible pain , the memory very fond.
▪
Asleep, he'd felt a terrible pain in his upper arm.
place
▪
Save me from this terrible place !
▪
It was a terrible place , he said.
▪
Digby was in that terrible place which comedians fear most of all - the gag swamp.
▪
How could I get away from this terrible place ?
▪
I don't expect them to leave here with a catalogue of stories about what a terrible place Whitely is.
▪
A terrible place , St Jude's Passage.
▪
What is this terrible place ...?
▪
It was the most terrible place she had ever been in in her life.
shock
▪
Being told I had cancer was a terrible shock .
▪
It gave us all a terrible shock .
▪
This will be a terrible shock to her.
▪
I had a terrible shock when you opened your eyes and looked so steadily at me.
▪
He looked at the chair by the fireside and got a terrible shock .
▪
I hadn't seen them carry her in from the car so it was a terrible shock for me.
▪
Losing your aunt like that must have been a terrible shock .
state
▪
And he was in a terrible state .
▪
They did not tell her this, but they reproached her for hiding her terrible state from them, her own sisters.
▪
He was in that terrible state of lumbar pain where mobility involves a slow ambulatory squat.
▪
It was in a terrible state when we moved in but we cleaned it up and made it quite homely.
▪
He also had drains that were in a terrible state and therefore wanted one of his sons to become a plumber.
▪
She hurried round to Mozart's apartment, where she found Constanze in a terrible state , though trying to keep calm.
thing
▪
What terrible things I have done!
▪
Instinctively we knew that terrible things were going to happen in our elderly aunts peaceful living room.
▪
She knew the terrible things her son had written to the girl after she had rejected him.
▪
He was right, of course, Alistair had done terrible things to me.
▪
Recently I have witnessed some terrible things .
▪
When Kip first arrived a terrible thing had happened.
▪
It was a horrible thing , a terrible thing, which could have deranged anybody in my opinion.
▪
And the terrible thing is, Ray, part of him liked it.
things
▪
What terrible things I have done!
▪
Throughout history terrible things have happened when one man or group believed themselves superior to the rest of us.
▪
There are terrible things going on here.
▪
Instinctively we knew that terrible things were going to happen in our elderly aunts peaceful living room.
▪
No wonder she'd lied when so many terrible things had started happening all around her.
▪
This is so despite the terrible things we learn when we look into the backgrounds of those who go beyond the limits.
▪
We hear terrible things of your schooling system in my country, and I've met a lot of you.
▪
Sleeping people do all kinds of terrible things to one another.
time
▪
I know you had a terrible time and the last thing I meant to do was to upset you.
▪
It had been a terrible time for him, but it was all over.
▪
I was the best-known face in East Anglia, but I was having a terrible time .
▪
My father is angry at me for going away with my family at this terrible time .
▪
It was a dark and terrible time .
▪
She'd had a terrible time at the birth.
▪
Amelia had a terrible time that winter.
tragedy
▪
More often, however, they haunt that person alone and by so doing indicate some terrible tragedy is imminent.
▪
They elope together, wander the country in search of work, and, finally, a terrible tragedy overtakes their children.
trouble
▪
All of a sudden the dynamite business was in terrible trouble .
▪
When something goes wrong, as it always does, they are in terrible trouble .
truth
▪
A careful read of this book will show that underpinning it is a terrible truth .
▪
They had admitted terrible truths to them-selves, which the rest of us worked hard to deny.
▪
They now knew the terrible truth , even though without a body they still could not mourn.
▪
She could not discredit this terrible truth .
PHRASES FROM OTHER ENTRIES
be a good/wonderful/terrible etc cook
▪
As a result, the adult John is obsessed with food, has an overstocked fridge and is a good cook .
▪
Franca, said to be a good cook , was not a good cook, just an ingenious cook.
▪
He is a good cook , isn't he?
▪
My aunt and I are good cooks .
▪
Nils may be a good cook , but his time will be better spent away from the galley.
▪
Of motivation to get good grades in school or to be a good cook ?
▪
To be a good cook you have to do a lot of things precisely, but it requires no understanding.
▪
Zelah was a good cook and he enjoyed the meal.
EXAMPLES FROM OTHER ENTRIES
▪
a terrible accident
▪
I have a terrible headache.
▪
The movie was terrible .
EXAMPLES FROM CORPUS
▪
He had some idea of what was ahead of him, for he knew the terrible tales about the Robemaker's Workshops.
▪
He says it's terrible , because the aircraft has such a good safety record.
▪
I was withdrawing from drugs and in a terrible state.
▪
It is hard to believe that you will be able to make something happen to get you out of this terrible mess.
▪
Students like Andrea are caught in a terrible bind.
▪
The attitude they have towards you is terrible , like you're lower than the dirt they tread on.
▪
Yet beyond the immediate and terrible losses suffered, the fire had lasting consequences for the lives of Californians.