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by Lxr 2446 days ago
Similar to 厉害 in Chinese - it often translates as terrible, but mostly used to mean great.
3 comments

"Awesome" and "Aweful" have similar etymologoies: both mean, "Inspiring or creating awe". But one has morphed into, "really good", and the other into "really bad".
Likewise "terrible" and "terrific".
I believe "terrible" in the sense given for 厉害 is as in "I am Oz, the great and terrible", not the ordinary sense of the word.
This. It can be used more colloquially than the equivalent meaning of "terrible," where it's closer to something like "awesome." It can also generally used as a marker of intensity. In no case does it mean "bad at something."
Can you give an example where it means terrible? I can't think of any.