ferocious

play

adjective fe·ro·cious \ fə-ˈrō-shəs \

Definition of ferocious

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

See ferocious defined for English-language learners

See ferocious defined for kids

Examples of ferocious in a Sentence

A ferocious wind swept the beach.
The competition among the students was ferocious.

Recent Examples of ferocious from the Web

Hosmer saw the pitch up and unleashed a ferocious cut, the baseball soaring into the night.

— rustin dodd, kansascity, "Royals’ Eric Hosmer clubs first career walk-off homer off Greg Holland in 6-4 win," 23 Aug. 2017
These works are less ferocious, finding Beethoven comfortably trying on the Viennese classical style, and adding his own twists to it.

— christian hertzog, sandiegouniontribune.com, "Jennifer Koh, Shai Wosner deliver sizzling SummerFest performance," 17 Aug. 2017
People perhaps mistake his ferocious aggression for a lack of discipline.

— jim proser, National Review, "James Mattis: No Better Friend, No Worse Enemy," 15 Aug. 2017
The heat is ferocious and so are the soaking rain storms that turn our streets into canals.

— connie ogle, miamiherald, "We know it’s early. But here are the books you should be reading this fall," 10 Aug. 2017
The horses race at a ferocious speed down the embankment, then wade across a river before emerging on the other side to complete the steeplechase.

— matt giles, Longreads, "Inside the World Famous Suicide Race," 2 Aug. 2017
Much maligned in these parts, the barracuda is both a ferocious predator and a tasty fish.

— AL.com, "Alabama Deep Sea Fishing Rodeo Day 2 results," 23 July 2017
Nymeria, who is now the leader of a ferocious pack of wolves.

— kayleigh roberts, Marie Claire, "The Biggest Moments from 'Game of Thrones' Season 7 Episode 2," 23 July 2017
At the same time, the victim is given a ferocious beating by his captors.

— erin blakemore, Longreads, "Our Zombies, Ourselves: An Undead Reading List," 20 July 2017

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'ferocious.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

Origin and Etymology of ferocious

Latin feroc-, ferox, literally, fierce looking, from ferus + -oc-, -ox (akin to Greek ōps eye) — more at eye

NEW! Time Traveler

First Known Use: 1646

See Words from the same year

ferocious Synonyms

Synonyms

acute, almighty, blistering, deep, dreadful, excruciating, explosive, exquisite, fearful, fearsome, intense, fierce, frightful, furious, ghastly, hard, heavy, heavy-duty, hellacious, intensive, keen, profound, terrible, vehement, vicious, violent

Antonyms

light, moderate, soft

Related Words

accentuated, aggravated, concentrated, deepened; emphasized, enhanced, heightened, intensified, magnified; stressed; exhaustive, thorough; harsh, rigorous, severe

Near Antonyms

feeble, weak; shallow, superficial; moderated, qualified; alleviated, eased, lightened, toned (down); abated, decreased, diminished, lessened, reduced, subdued

Synonym Discussion of ferocious

fierce, ferocious, barbarous, savage, cruel mean showing fury or malignity in looks or actions. fierce applies to humans and animals that inspire terror because of their wild and menacing aspect or fury in attack.