fierce
- menacingly wild, savage, or hostile: fierce animals; a fierce look.
- violent in force, intensity, etc.: fierce winds.
- furiously eager or intense: fierce competition.
- Informal. extremely bad or severe: a fierce cold.
Origin of fierce
Synonyms
See more synonyms on Thesaurus.comAntonyms
Examples from the Web for fierce
Contemporary Examples
Throughout the fifties, in city after city, fluoridation became the subject of fierce debate.
They had also come “to remind America of the fierce urgency of now.”
How Martin Luther King Jr. Influenced Sam Cooke’s ‘A Change Is Gonna Come’Peter Guralnick
December 28, 2014
I so loved the fierce bodily contact of football that I suppose my enthusiasm made up somewhat for my lack of size.
Their bodies would be discovered more than a month after they died, after fierce fighting in the African nation subsided.
Caught: Female Assassin Who Allegedly Murdered Five American NunsBarbie Latza Nadeau
September 22, 2014
In the midst of that fierce winter, Anna fell ill, developing a nasty, lingering cough.
Historical Examples
This unexpected opposition excited the fierce resentment of the captain.
Brave and BoldHoratio Alger
Afterward his uncle came in a fierce humor, slamming the door.
Way of the LawlessMax Brand
When a woman loves a fierce man she takes the risk of his fierceness.
VivietteWilliam J. Locke
She could be fierce and wicked; she is ignorant and bitter about many things; I am afraid for her.
Ester Ried Yet SpeakingIsabella Alden
The voice, too, when he spoke, was as deep and as fierce as the growl of a beast of prey.
The White CompanyArthur Conan Doyle
fierce
- having a violent and unrestrained nature; savagea fierce dog
- wild or turbulent in force, action, or intensitya fierce storm
- vehement, intense, or strongfierce competition
- informal very disagreeable or unpleasant
Word Origin
Word Origin and History for fierce
adj.
mid-13c., "proud, noble, bold," from Old French fers, nominative form of fer, fier "strong, overwhelming, violent, fierce, wild; proud, mighty, great, impressive" (Modern French fier "proud, haughty"), from Latin ferus "wild, untamed," from PIE root *ghwer- "wild, wild animal" (cf. Greek ther, Old Church Slavonic zveri, Lithuanian zveris "wild beast").
Original English sense of "brave, proud" died out 16c., but caused the word at first to be commonly used as an epithet, which accounts for the rare instance of a French word entering English in the nominative case. Meaning "ferocious, wild, savage" is from c.1300. Related: Fiercely; fierceness.