"τρομερό" does it mean "awesome" or "terrible"?

Question

How does this word "τρομερό" work? On its own it gets translated to "awesome" while a simple sentence like "αυτό είναι τρομερό" gets translated to "this is terrible".

Answer 1

Hi

The adjective "τρομερός (masc.), τρομερή (fem.), τρομερό (neut.)" has a double meaning:

1. awful, frightening, terrible

2. amazing, awesome.

The context guides us to decide which meaning fits in each sentence.

Examples:

"Έχω τρομερό πονοκέφαλο!" = I have a terrible headache!"

"Έχει χιλιάδες θαυμαστές. Είναι τρομερή ηθοποιός!" = She has thousands of fans. She is an amazing actress!"

The two meanings of the word are actually related. "τρομερός" comes from the verb "τρέμω" = tremble. Tremor may be caused by fear or excitement.