ferocious
adjective
fe·ro·cious
fə-ˈrō-shəs 
1
: exhibiting or given to extreme fierceness and unrestrained violence and brutality
a ferocious predator
the ferocious butchery of women and children
2
: extremely intense
ferocious heat
The competition among the students was ferocious.
ferociously
adverb
ferociousness
noun
Synonyms
Examples of ferocious in a Sentence
A ferocious wind swept the beach.
The competition among the students was ferocious.
Recent Examples on the Web
Dawn of the Dead (1978) George Romero’s classic consumer satire about a group of survivors hiding out from a zombie apocalypse in a shopping mall has only grown more potent, more sharp, and more ferocious with age.
—
Declan Gallagher, EW.com, 26 Apr. 2024
Her Tashi is all length — long arms, long legs, long braid — with a ferocious little chin set in anger.
—Amy Nicholson, Los Angeles Times, 25 Apr. 2024
But even still there’s a part of me that’s a ferocious defender, who wants to correct the record piece by piece.
—Sophia Bush, Glamour, 25 Apr. 2024
But by the time the 28-minute overture concluded, the sextet had been as ferocious as a pack of bloodthirsty velociraptors, and majestic as a pack of gliding pterodactyls.
—Journal Sentinel, 3 Apr. 2024
In the 1970s, the tree was struck by lightning at least three times during a ferocious thunderstorm.
—Christopher Cann, USA TODAY, 14 Apr. 2024
Continued border incursions flared into a ferocious clash in 2020 that threatened to lead to all-out war.
—Sameer Yasir, New York Times, 13 Apr. 2024
Furthermore, despite a ferocious military campaign that has destroyed most of Gaza, which Hamas’s Health Ministry estimates has killed more than 33,000 people, Hamas has demonstrated an uncanny resilience and ability to persevere.
—Ahmed Fouad Alkhatib, The Atlantic, 10 Apr. 2024
The eponymous labyrinth of ancient Greek mythology—the one with the ferocious Minotaur in its depths—is, in descriptions by classical authors, pretty obviously a maze.
—Hazlitt, 10 Apr. 2024
Declan Gallagher, EW.com, 26 Apr. 2024
Her Tashi is all length — long arms, long legs, long braid — with a ferocious little chin set in anger.
—Amy Nicholson, Los Angeles Times, 25 Apr. 2024
But even still there’s a part of me that’s a ferocious defender, who wants to correct the record piece by piece.
—Sophia Bush, Glamour, 25 Apr. 2024
But by the time the 28-minute overture concluded, the sextet had been as ferocious as a pack of bloodthirsty velociraptors, and majestic as a pack of gliding pterodactyls.
—Journal Sentinel, 3 Apr. 2024
In the 1970s, the tree was struck by lightning at least three times during a ferocious thunderstorm.
—Christopher Cann, USA TODAY, 14 Apr. 2024
Continued border incursions flared into a ferocious clash in 2020 that threatened to lead to all-out war.
—Sameer Yasir, New York Times, 13 Apr. 2024
Furthermore, despite a ferocious military campaign that has destroyed most of Gaza, which Hamas’s Health Ministry estimates has killed more than 33,000 people, Hamas has demonstrated an uncanny resilience and ability to persevere.
—Ahmed Fouad Alkhatib, The Atlantic, 10 Apr. 2024
The eponymous labyrinth of ancient Greek mythology—the one with the ferocious Minotaur in its depths—is, in descriptions by classical authors, pretty obviously a maze.
—Hazlitt, 10 Apr. 2024
These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'ferocious.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.
Dictionary Entries Near ferocious
Cite this Entry
“Ferocious.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/ferocious. Accessed 3 May. 2024.
Copy CitationKids Definition
ferocious
adjective
fe·ro·cious
fə-ˈrō-shəs
1
2
: very great : extreme
ferocious heat
ferociously
adverb
ferociousness
noun
ferocity
noun
fə-ˈräs-ət-ē
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