ferity

American  

[fer-i-tee] / ˈfɛr ɪ ti /

noun

1. a wild, untamed, or uncultivated state.

2. savagery; ferocity.

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ferity British  

/ ˈfɛrɪtɪ /

noun

1. the state of being wild or uncultivated

2. savagery; ferocity

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Etymology

Origin of ferity

1525–35; < Latin feritās, equivalent to fer ( us ) wild, untamed + -itās -ity

Example Sentences

We are a foul animal poisoned in all its springs and motivations, a beast of snarling ferity that parades itself in silks and calleth itself an angel, while gnawing upon cattle, seizing upon fowls, ransacking the earth and the seas, clawing our neighbor to provide for ourselves small trinkets to lay in our nests where we curl in bloated slumber.

From Literature

There is a savor of the like ferity and sweetness in this poem.

From Project Gutenberg

Thus writes Edmund Spenser, the author of the "Fa�rie Queen," a man not famous for his ferity.

From Project Gutenberg

To burn the bones of the King of Edom for lime seems no irrational ferity: but to store the back volumes of Mr Bottomley's "John Bull" a passionate prodigality.'

From Project Gutenberg

To burn the bones of the king of Edom for lime,# seems no irrational ferity; but to drink of the ashes of dead relations,$ a passionate prodigality.

From Project Gutenberg