Dictionary

unterrific en · ADJ

Pronunciation

• /ˌʌn.təˈɹɪf.ɪk/

Etymology

Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *né Proto-Indo-European *n̥- Proto-Germanic *un- Proto-West Germanic *un- Old English un- Middle English un- English un- Proto-Indo-European *tres- Proto-Indo-European *-yeti Proto-Indo-European *-éyeti Proto-Indo-European *troséyeti Proto-Italic *trozeō Latin terreō Proto-Indo-European *dʰeh₁-der. Proto-Italic *θakos Proto-Italic *-fakos Latin -ficus Latin terrificusder. French terrifiqueder. English terrific English unterrific From un- + terrific.

Meanings

1. Unterrifying; not causing or involving terror.
   • It was like the dark, cold, but unterrific and comparatively soothing night, that succeeds to a day of storm and earthquake. 1820, [Charles Robert Maturin], Melmoth the Wanderer: A Tale. […], volume IV, Edinburgh: […] Archibald Constable and Company, and Hurst, Robinson, and Co., […], →OCLC, page 366:
2. Unexceptional, ordinary.
   • Of these the nearest — yet about twelve miles distant — is the before-named Brezon, a majestic, but unterrific, fortalice of cliff, forest, and meadow, with unseen nests of village, and unexpected balm and honey of garden and orchard nursed in its recesses. 1887, John Ruskin, Præterita: Outlines of Scenes and Thoughts, George Allen, pages 392–393:

Forms