formidable
[fawr-mi-duh-buh l]
- causing fear, apprehension, or dread: a formidable opponent.
- of discouraging or awesome strength, size, difficulty, etc.; intimidating: a formidable problem.
- arousing feelings of awe or admiration because of grandeur, strength, etc.
- of great strength; forceful; powerful: formidable opposition to the proposal.
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Origin of formidable
1400–50; late Middle English < French < Latin formīdābilis causing fear, equivalent to formīd- (stem of formīdāre to fear) + -ābilis -able
Synonyms
See more synonyms for formidable on Thesaurus.com1. dreadful, appalling, threatening, menacing, fearful, frightful, horrible.
Antonyms
1. pleasant.
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018
Examples from the Web for formidability
Historical Examples
The barbed-wire entanglements were deep, in keeping with the formidability of the German trench system.
formidable
- arousing or likely to inspire fear or dread
- extremely difficult to defeat, overcome, manage, etca formidable problem
- tending to inspire awe or admiration because of great size, strength, excellence, etc
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Word Origin
C15: from Latin formīdābilis, from formīdāre to dread, from formīdō fear
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition
© William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
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Word Origin and History for formidability
formidable
adj.
mid-15c., from Middle French formidable (15c.), from Latin formidabilis "causing fear, terrible," from formidare "to fear," from formido "fearfulness, fear, terror, dread." Related: Formidably.
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Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper