# When did 'Terrific' change meaning from bad to good?

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-did-terrific-change-meaning-from-bad-to-good/580557>\
**Category:** Factual Questions\
**Created:** [May 3, 2011, 10:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-did-terrific-change-meaning-from-bad-to-good/580557 "2011-05-03T10:46:57Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 2\
**Page:** 2

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![Hail\_Ants](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/dc4da7/32.png) [@Hail\_Ants](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hail_Ants)\
**Post date:** [May 5, 2011, 5:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-did-terrific-change-meaning-from-bad-to-good/580557/21 "2011-05-05T17:15:59Z")

</div>

Just to wrap this up, I sent my question to Cecil and a member of the staff referred me to this web site:

[http://www.word-detective.com](http://www.word-detective.com/)

Neat site, both informative and amusing, much like the SD…

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![robcaro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/df705f/32.png) [@robcaro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/robcaro)\
**Post date:** [May 5, 2011, 7:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-did-terrific-change-meaning-from-bad-to-good/580557/22 "2011-05-05T19:52:17Z")

</div>

My dictionary defines it thusly:

ter·ri·fic adj. 1. Causing terror or great fear; terrifying: a terrific wail. 2. Very bad or unpleasant; frightful: a terrific headache. 3. Very good or fine; splendid: a terrific tennis player. 4. Awesome; astounding: terrific speed.

[Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-did-terrific-change-meaning-from-bad-to-good/580557.md?page=1)