ferocity

American  

[fuh-ros-i-tee] / fəˈrɒs ɪ ti /

noun

• ferocities
  plural

1. a ferocious quality or state; savage fierceness.

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Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• nonferocity
  noun

Inflected Forms

Nouns

• ferocities
  plural

Etymology

Origin of ferocity

1600–10; < Latin ferōcitās, equivalent to ferōc-, stem of ferōx ferocious + -itās -ity

Explanation

Ferocity is the state of being ferocious — wild, scary, and fierce. A five year-old girl pretending to be a lion will display her ferocity by roaring and baring her teeth. Things known for their ferocity include wild animals, terrifying thunder storms, and fierce battlefield fights. A furious argument can have an element of ferocity, and so can a wild, loud piece of music. The Latin word ferus, which means "wild," is the root of not only ferocity, but ferocious and fierce. Ferocity came directly from the Latin ferocitatem, "fierceness, or wildness."

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

ferocity ferocities

Mr. Esparza, a four-time Tony nominee, has often exuded a molten intensity onstage, and he bristles with dark ferocity here.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 12, 2026

But the ferocity of interest in the product, both online and on the high street, has split opinions about responsible marketing and whether the watches are even worth it.

From BBC ● May 18, 2026

“Anybody who disagrees with his notion of how war is to be fought, which is with incredible and relatively unrestrained ferocity, they’re also suspect.”

From Salon ● May 1, 2026

They haven’t piled into single stocks with the same ferocity, and instead they’ve put money into the market through index-tracking ETFs.

From MarketWatch ● Apr. 9, 2026

She’d risen to rest on her elbows and screamed with such ferocity that Mark thought she might’ve hurt herself.

From "The Kill Order (Maze Runner, Book Four; Origin)" by James Dashner

Pieces by Ravel and Pablo de Sarasate shone as they should, and the evening’s unlikely centerpiece, Ginastera’s Violin Concerto, was a 30-minute fever dream of serialist fancies and ferocities.

From New York Times ● Apr. 28, 2024

Whitman relished these energies; these ferocities in our beings. 

From Slate ● Jan. 9, 2015

The altar boy who might charm the nuns could take on ferocities.

From Time Magazine Archive

In a small mews cottage in London's arty Chelsea, Osborne lives with his wife, Actress Ure, and spews out his ferocities.

From Time Magazine Archive

Not content with attributing to him ferocities of which he never was guilty, the chronicles have altogether ignored the fairer side of his character.

From Canadian Notabilities, Volume 1 by John Charles Dent