why are terrible and horrible basically the same thing but horrific and terrific are basically the opposite

Question

English will never be something I fully understand

In: 9830

Answer 1

“Terrible” has also changed over time. It is now mostly synonymous with horrible or bad. “How was the movie?” , a response of “It was terrible” means that it was bad. Historically though it was indeed related to describing something powerful or fear inducing. Best example of this is the Russian tsar named Ivan the Terrible. That does noy mean “Ivan the Bad” but more “Ivan the Powerful or Ivan the Awe Inducing”

I think the meaning of the word changed due to its use to describe storms. A terrible storm was used to describe a powerful one. Now people think more of the damage left behind and a terrible storm became a bad storm.