As an effective alternative to noble platinum electrocatalyst, earth abundant and inexpensive layered transition metal dichalcogenides (TMDs) are investigated for the hydrogen evolution reaction (HER). Compared with binary TMDs, the tunably composed ternary TMDs have hitherto received relatively little attention. Here, few-layered ternary WS2(1-x)Se2x nanoribbons (NRs) with metallic 1T phases, much more catalytically active in HER, are prepared for the first time. The favorable G(H)(o) introduced by the tensile region on the surface, along with the presence of local lattice distortions of the WS2(1-x)Se2x nanoribbons with metallic 1T phases, greatly promotes the HER process. These ternary NRs achieve the lowest overpotential of approximate to 0.17 V at 10 mA cm(-2) and a Tafel slope of approximate to 68 mV dec(-1) at a low catalyst loading (approximate to 0.30 +/- 0.02 mg cm(-2)). Notably, the long-term durability suggests the potential of practical applications in acid electrolytes. The results here suggest that the ternary WS2(1-x)Se2x NRs with 1T phases are prominent alternatives to platinum-based HER electrocatalysts.