How to pronounce "terribles" in English
TER·ri·bles
Primary stress: ter
Hear native speakers say terribles in context across real video clips
Linguistic Pronunciation Masterclass: “terribles”
Phonetic mechanics, syllable architecture, and conversational cadence
Syllable Architecture & Stress Distribution
TER
Elevated pitch, sustained vowel length, and full acoustic clarity.
ri
Reduced vowel sound, relaxed jaw, and minimal vocal effort.
bles
Reduced vowel sound, relaxed jaw, and minimal vocal effort.
Primary emphasis falls on the first syllable ("TER"). Raise your pitch and sustain the vowel length on this syllable while relaxing the surrounding syllables.
Common Pronunciation Traps & Learner Mistakes
The Trap: Avoid pronouncing every vowel with full acoustic weight. Non-native speakers often over-enunciate unstressed vowels.
How Native Speakers Say It: Only give full vowel clarity to the primary stressed syllable. Relax all unstressed vowels into a neutral, low-energy schwa (⁄ə⁄).
Connected Speech & Natural Conversational Flow
When "terribles" is followed by a word starting with a vowel, glide the final consonant into the opening vowel (e.g. "terribles is" sounds like "terribles-iz").
Maintain the stress-timed rhythm of English: compress unstressed syllables rapidly so the beat of "terribles" aligns naturally with adjacent words.
Authentic Spoken Quotes from Native Video Context
“But it is a terrible, terrible, terrible"--three terribles--"business to make the best of this."”— YaleCoursesWatch clip
“He aquí una cuestión que agita nuestra sociedad, que se planteó también en épocas más antiguas, y respecto a enfermedades mucho más terribles que la que estamos conociendo.”— TEDx TalksWatch clip
“There are so many The Greats and The Terribles among royalty and so few”— Native SpeakerWatch clip
“The Batman film producers were doing the million, you know, 'we feel terribles' about the horrible thing that happened in Colorado the weekend that Batman came out.”— Native SpeakerWatch clip
Practice Speaking “terribles”
Listen to native pronunciation, record yourself repeating the sentence into your microphone, and receive real-time word-by-word accuracy scoring.
But it is a terrible, terrible, terrible"--three terribles--"business to make the best of this."
Hear it in context: “terribles”
4 clipsThe English word “terribles”. Phonologically, it consists of 3 syllables (ter · ri · bles), with primary lexical stress placed on the 1st (initial) syllable (ter). Grammatically, “terribles” functions as a adjective, adverb. SayItVid indexes 4 authentic English video clips demonstrating how native speakers articulate “terribles” in natural connected speech across American (US: 4 sampled), British (UK), and Australian (AUS) accents, including verified broadcasts from YaleCourses, TEDx Talks.
Spoken Video Transcripts & Contextual Quotes (4 Verified Clips)
- 🇺🇸 USYaleCoursesClip #1 · @14:39
“would sing out 'oh' when he was hit. But it is a terrible, terrible, terrible"--three terribles--"business to make the best of this." terribles--"business to make the best of this."”
- 🇺🇸 USTEDx TalksClip #2 · @0:26
“Convivir con la enfermedad, convivir con los enfermos. He aquí una cuestión que agita nuestra sociedad, que se planteó también en épocas más antiguas, y respecto a enfermedades mucho más terribles que la que estamos conociendo. que se planteó también en épocas más antiguas,”
- 🇺🇸 USClip #3 · @8:39
“Dear Xia Dynasty, Why you gotta be so fictional? You contain all of the most awesome emperors, including my favorite emperor of all time, Yu the Engineer. There are so many The Greats and The Terribles among royalty and so few Yu the Engineer. There are so many The Greats and The Terribles among royalty and so few”
- 🇺🇸 USClip #4 · @55:30
“short of creating a scandal you know, whether they--. The Batman film producers were doing the million, you know, 'we feel terribles' about the horrible thing that happened in Colorado the weekend that Batman came out. thing that happened in Colorado the weekend that Batman came out.”
Definition & Meaning: “terribles”
- Dreadful; causing terror, alarm and fear; awesome
- Formidable, powerful.
- In a terrible way; to a terrible extent; terribly; awfully.
Example Sentences (3)
- “The witch laid a terrible curse on him.”
- “[…]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.”
- “But it is a terrible, terrible, terrible"--three terribles--"business to make the best of this."”
Common Phrases & Collocations
Pronounce: “terribles”
- Syllables:
- ter · ri · bles
- Primary stress:
- ter
- Hear it in context
- terribles
Synonyms: “terribles”
Hear words related in meaning to “terribles” in real video clips:
Words that Sound Identical (Homophones)
Unique Sound"terribles" has no true homophones in standard English — there are no other words with identical pronunciation. Unlike sound-alike pairs like there / their or peace / piece, "terribles" has a completely distinct phonetic identity.
Frequently asked questions about terribles
How many syllables are in “terribles”?
“terribles” has 3 syllables: ter · ri · bles.
Where is the stress in “terribles”?
The primary stress in “terribles” is on “TER”. Listen for that stressed syllable in the clips above.
What does “terribles” mean?
Dreadful; causing terror, alarm and fear; awesome
How can I hear “terribles” used in real sentences?
This page has 4 real-world video examples of “terribles” with synchronized subtitles. Use Previous / Next (or ← / → keys) to hear each one at the exact moment it is spoken.
What is the most common pronunciation mistake when saying “terribles”?
Avoid pronouncing every vowel with full acoustic weight. Non-native speakers often over-enunciate unstressed vowels. Only give full vowel clarity to the primary stressed syllable. Relax all unstressed vowels into a neutral, low-energy schwa (⁄ə⁄).