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 for fierce on Thesaurus.comAntonyms
Examples from the Web for fiercely
Contemporary Examples
With twice as many British soldiers, Washington was in for a fiercely competitive battle of wit and strength.
The British Royals Reinvade Brooklyn: William and Kate Come Watch Basketball on Historic Battle SiteJustin Jones
December 6, 2014
In the case of Wikipedia, its defenders were fiercely committed.
Fiercely proud of her heritage, she deplores the racial prejudice she encountered when she came to Hollywood at age 17.
Rita Moreno, SAG Life Achievement Award Winner, Talks Brando, Elvis And West Side StorySandra McElwaine
January 15, 2014
Middleton also says in her piece that she, like the rest of her family, is "fiercely competitive."
Winstead admits she was a tough boss, maybe too tough, inexperienced in delegating and fiercely protective of her vision.
Historical Examples
"He would do so at the peril of his life, then," said the captain, fiercely.
Brave and BoldHoratio Alger
"Often enough," he said fiercely, and he thought of his drunken father.
Ester Ried Yet SpeakingIsabella Alden
"My home is where my daughter is," answered Castell fiercely.
Fair MargaretH. Rider Haggard
But his face had turned white and Dick saw that he was fiercely angry.
The Rock of ChickamaugaJoseph A. Altsheler
"It's Charley Channing that's the donkey; not me," cried Tod, fiercely.
The ChanningsMrs. Henry Wood
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 fiercely
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.