redoubtable
[ri-dou-tuh-buh l]
- that is to be feared; formidable.
- commanding or evoking respect, reverence, or the like.
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Origin of redoubtable
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018
Examples from the Web for redoubtable
Contemporary Examples
Even the intelligence operations of the redoubtable New York City Police Department are under fire.
In the 1990s, progressive politicians led by the redoubtable Al Gore, viewed the “digital divide” as a dire national crisis.
Government Should Not Spend Big Bucks to Close Internet ‘Time-Wasting Divide’Michael Medved
June 14, 2012
And what about his replacement, the redoubtable Rosa Otunbayeva, a former foreign minister and ambassador to the U.S.?
Historical Examples
She was virginity personified with all its redoubtable mystery.
The Three Cities Trilogy, CompleteEmile Zola
On he went, like a redoubtable conqueror with Pepsy after him.
Pee-wee HarrisPercy Keese Fitzhugh
They will form a caste—poor, stern to itself, and redoubtable.
Initiation into PhilosophyEmile Faguet
All this time the landlords brandish a redoubtable weapon: starvation.
Rosinante to the Road AgainJohn Dos Passos
But the glory of these redoubtable Cinque Ports has departed.
England, Picturesque and DescriptiveJoel Cook
redoubtable
- to be feared; formidable
- worthy of respect
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Word Origin
C14: from Old French, from redouter to dread, from re- + douter to be afraid, doubt
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 redoubtable
adj.
late 14c., from Old French redoutable (12c.), from redouter "to dread," from re-, intensive prefix, + douter "be afraid of" (see doubt (v.)).
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Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper