fierce
Americanadjective
-
menacingly wild, savage, or hostile.
fierce animals;
a fierce look.
-
violent in force, intensity, etc..
fierce winds.
- Synonyms:
- passionate, furious, turbulent
-
furiously eager or intense.
fierce competition.
- Synonyms:
- turbulent, passionate, furious
-
extremely bad or severe.
a fierce cold.
adjective
-
having a violent and unrestrained nature; savage
a fierce dog
-
wild or turbulent in force, action, or intensity
a fierce storm
-
vehement, intense, or strong
fierce competition
-
informal very disagreeable or unpleasant
Related Words
Fierce, ferocious, truculent suggest vehemence and violence of temper, manner, or action: fierce in repelling a foe. Ferocious implies fierceness or cruelty, especially of a bloodthirsty kind, in disposition or action: a ferocious glare; ferocious brutality toward helpless refugees. Truculent suggests an intimidating or bullying fierceness of manner or conduct: His truculent attitude kept them terrified and submissive.
Other Word Forms
- fiercely adverb
- fierceness noun
- overfierce adjective
- unfierce adjective
Etymology
Origin of fierce
First recorded in 1300–1350; from Middle English fiers, fers, from Old French fiers, fers, from Latin ferus “wild, fierce”; feral 1, ferocious
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.
The debate over data centers is heating up in the Imperial Valley, a rural desert region in southeastern California where a proposed center faces fierce opposition from residents.
From Los Angeles Times
Volcker raised interest rates to levels that contributed to a recession and drew fierce criticism from Congress and the Reagan White House, but held his course until inflation broke.
From Barron's
Volcker raised interest rates to levels that contributed to a recession and drew fierce criticism from Congress and the Reagan White House, but held his course until inflation broke.
From Barron's
AI server margins are narrow in part because of fierce competition.
From Barron's
It has conquered Silicon Valley, jolted Wall Street and even managed to scramble Anthropic’s fiercest rival.
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.
