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fierce - 4 dictionary results

fierce

  [feers]
Use fierce in a Sentence
–adjective, fierc⋅er, fierc⋅est.
1. menacingly wild, savage, or hostile: fierce animals; a fierce look.
2. violent in force, intensity, etc.: fierce winds.
3. furiously eager or intense: fierce competition.
4. Informal. extremely bad or severe: a fierce cold.
Origin:
1250–1300; ME fiers < AF fers, OF fiers (nom.) < L ferus wild, fierce; cf. feral 1 , ferocious

Related forms:
fiercely, adverb
fierceness, noun

Synonyms:
1. untamed; cruel, fell, brutal; barbarous, bloodthirsty, murderous. Fierce, ferocious, truculent suggest vehemence and violence of temper, manner, or action: fierce in repelling a foe. Ferocious implies fierceness or cruelty, esp. 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. 2, 3. furious, passionate, turbulent.

Antonyms:
1. tame, mild.
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
Cite This Source Link To fierce
fierce   (fîrs)   
adj.   fierc·er, fierc·est
  1. Having a savage and violent nature; ferocious. See Synonyms at cruel.
  2. Extremely severe or violent; terrible: "the fierce thunders roar me their music" (Ezra Pound).
  3. Extremely intense or ardent: fierce loyalty. See Synonyms at intense.
  4. Strenuously active or resolute: a fierce attempt to escape.
  5. Informal Very difficult or unpleasant: a fierce exam.
  6. Savage or threatening in appearance.

[Middle English fiers, from Old French, from Latin ferus; see ghwer- in Indo-European roots.]
fierce'ly adv., fierce'ness n.
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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Fierce

Fierce\, a. [Compar. Fiercer; superl. Fiercest.] [OE. fers, fiers, OF. fier, nom. fiers, fierce, savage, cruel, F. fier proud, from L. ferus wild, savage, cruel; perh. akin to E. bear the animal. Cf. Feral, Ferocity.]

1. Furious; violent; unrestrained; impetuous; as, a fierce wind.

His fierce thunder drove us to the deep. --Milton.

2. Vehement in anger or cruelty; ready or eager to kill or injure; of a nature to inspire terror; ferocious. "A fierce whisper." --Dickens. "A fierce tyrant." --Pope.

The fierce foe hung upon our broken rear. --Milton.

Thou huntest me as a fierce lion. --Job. x. 16.

3. Excessively earnest, eager, or ardent.

Syn: Ferocious; savage; cruel; vehement; impetuous; barbarous; fell. See Ferocious. -- Fierce"ly, adv. -- Fierce"ness, n.
Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary, © 1996, 1998 MICRA, Inc.
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Language Translation for : fierce
Spanish: feroz,
German: wild,
Japanese: どう猛な
More Translations »

fierce 
1240, from O.Fr. fers, nom. form of fer, fier "wild, ferocious," from L. ferus "wild, untamed," from PIE base *gwer- "wild, wild animal" (cf. Gk. ther, O.C.S. zveri, Lith. zveris "wild beast"). Originally in Eng. also with a sense of "brave, proud," which died out 16c., but caused the word at first to be commonly used as an epithet, which accounts for the rare instance of a Fr. word entering Eng. in the nom. case.
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2001 Douglas Harper
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