Terrible/Terrify/Terrific

Eau de Dog. Why do you ask?

Dear Word Detective: Why are “terrible” and “terrify” bad, when “terrific” is so good? — James Avery.

Hmm. This isn’t a riddle, is it? I hate riddles. I especially hate the riddle about “the three words ending in ‘gry’,” which I have been receiving at least six times per day, seven days a week, for at least ten expletive-of-your-choice years. And now I’m suddenly wondering why I haven’t been selling the answer for ten bucks a pop. People certainly seem desperate enough. Good grief, that would have been worth more than $200,000. Well, this clearly demands some serious thought.

Meanwhile, that’s a darn good question. It reminds me of the story about Sir Christopher Wren, the architect who designed St. Paul’s Cathedral in London, which Queen Anne is said to have proclaimed “awful, artificial and amusing.” Wren was flattered rather than insulted, because at that time “awful” meant “awe-inspiring,” “artificial” meant “clever” or “artistic,” and “amusing” meant “riveting” or “astonishing.” The moral of that tale (which may or may not be true) is, of course, that words change their meanings over time, sometimes dramatically.

Such is the case with “terrific,” and, to a certain extent, “terrible,” both of which have diverged from their origins as close relatives of “terrify.”

The Indo-European root of all three words is “tres,” meaning “to tremble,” with the sense “to shake with fear.” (The same root gave us “tremble” and “tremor.”) The Latin descendant of “tres” was “terrare,” meaning “to frighten,” from which came “terribilis” (able to cause great fear) which eventually gave us the English word “terrible.” A parallel development from the same root was “terrificus” (the Latin suffix “ficus” meaning “making”), which eventually gave us both “terrify” (to make very afraid) and “terrific” (capable of causing great fear). As you have probably guessed, the same roots also gave us the nouns “terror” (great fear) and “terrorism” (the use of fear as a political weapon).

“Terrible” first appeared in English in the 15th century, “terrify” in the 16th, and “terrific” in the 17th, each embodying a serious sense of fear in keeping with their roots. “Terrify” has kept its original meaning (albeit with diluted uses, such as “Timmy terrified the other children all afternoon”), and “terrible,” while often applied in a hyperbolic manner (“That’s a terrible haircut”), largely retains its connotation of something really bad. But “terrific” moved from meaning “causing terror” to meaning simply “severe” by the early 19th century (a sense still heard in phrases like “a terrific blow”). This change apparently weakened the connection to actual fear enough that by 1930 “terrific” was being used as the colloquial equivalent of “great” or “wonderful.” It’s an odd change in meaning, but probably just as well. Otherwise, “Gee, your hair smells terrific” would have made a lousy advertising slogan.