ferocious
Americanadjective
-
savagely fierce, as a wild beast, person, action, or aspect; violently cruel.
a ferocious beating.
- Synonyms:
- rapacious
-
extreme or intense.
a ferocious thirst.
adjective
Related Words
See fierce.
Other Word Forms
- ferociously adverb
- ferociousness noun
- ferocity noun
- nonferocious adjective
- nonferociously adverb
- nonferociousness noun
- unferocious adjective
- unferociously adverb
Etymology
Origin of ferocious
First recorded in 1640–50; from Latin ferōc-, stem of ferōx “savage, fierce” ( fer(us) “wild” ( feral 1, fierce ) + -ōx “having such an appearance”; akin to eye ( def. ), oculus ( def. ), -opsis ) + -ious
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
Anthropic’s standoff with the Defense Department has cost it Uncle Sam as a customer, but it has brought a momentary advantage in the ferocious talent war between rival artificial intelligence labs.
“We have never seen a demand cycle like what we are experiencing now in the AI/datacenter infrastructure space,” wrote JPMorgan analyst Stephen Tusa, calling the current environment the “most ferocious we have ever seen.”
From Barron's
"Your wild imagination, your brave untethered womanhood, your ferocious gentleness is a guiding light to me."
From BBC
Falconers believe that the milder the name, the more ferocious the hunter.
Startups locked in ferocious competition with rivals can gain recognition quickly as the biggest company within a certain arena.
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
