1
as in terrifying
causing fear
a formidable, irascible old man who frightened the neighborhood children
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2
as in difficult
requiring considerable physical or mental effort
running a marathon is a formidable undertaking
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Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of formidable
What’s next The Avs’ center depth and talent looked formidable before the stunning results against Vegas.
—
Corey Masisak, Denver Post, 18 June 2026
Musk’s Grok models have historically underperformed their counterparts on coding tasks, but Cursor’s vast swaths of data will help SpaceX mount formidable competition to Anthropic and OpenAI.
—Rachyl Jones, semafor.com, 17 June 2026
Esrailian and Meth carried each other through the highs and lows and built a chemistry that made Harvard-Westlake’s tennis program formidable in 2026.
—Gqlshare, Daily News, 17 June 2026
With the mountains of cash that the IPO has already generated, the temptation to sell is formidable.
—Frank Landymore, Futurism, 17 June 2026
See All Example Sentences for formidable
Corey Masisak, Denver Post, 18 June 2026
Musk’s Grok models have historically underperformed their counterparts on coding tasks, but Cursor’s vast swaths of data will help SpaceX mount formidable competition to Anthropic and OpenAI.
—Rachyl Jones, semafor.com, 17 June 2026
Esrailian and Meth carried each other through the highs and lows and built a chemistry that made Harvard-Westlake’s tennis program formidable in 2026.
—Gqlshare, Daily News, 17 June 2026
With the mountains of cash that the IPO has already generated, the temptation to sell is formidable.
—Frank Landymore, Futurism, 17 June 2026
See All Example Sentences for formidable
Recent Examples of Synonyms for formidable
Adjective
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The series follows the residents of a remote island town called Widow’s Bay, just off the coast of New England, that just so happens to be cursed and haunted with all manner of terrifying things.—
Erik Kain,
Forbes.com,
12 June 2026
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The premise sees the town’s citizens coming around a campfire and spilling the beans on some of most terrifying deeds.—
Borys Kit,
HollywoodReporter,
12 June 2026
Adjective
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The verdict was delivered amid difficult personal circumstances for Mette-Marit, Hoiby’s mother, who needs a lung transplant for pulmonary fibrosis.—
Reuters,
CNN Money,
15 June 2026
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Otherwise, those prospects start becoming large contracts that stand more difficult to move or aggregate.—
Ira Winderman,
Sun Sentinel,
14 June 2026
Adjective
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What began as a quiet evening quickly turned frightening after the couple climbed onto the jetty rocks to look for shells and crabs.—
Ashley Vega,
PEOPLE,
11 June 2026
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By the time of The Social Reckoning, a website that was once used to rate the attractiveness of women has gone on to disrupt global politics on a frightening scale.—
Brianna Zigler,
Entertainment Weekly,
10 June 2026
Adjective
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The agreement calls for an immediate end to hostilities on all fronts, including Lebanon, and sets out expectations for the next phase of talks, which will tackle more challenging issues, mainly the future of Iran's nuclear program.—
Francesca Chambers,
USA Today,
18 June 2026
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This creates a particularly challenging environment for those working in contributor welfare.—
Emma Pringle,
Deadline,
17 June 2026
Adjective
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But the idea of transferring to a new school was scary.—
Susan Svrluga,
Washington Post,
15 June 2026
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It's been scary, and it's been really hard to navigate.—
ABC News,
ABC News,
14 June 2026
Adjective
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McIlroy bogeyed 18 to finish at one under, squarely in the hunt, considering the tough conditions limited scoring.—
Ian Miller OutKick,
FOXNews.com,
19 June 2026
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Parker, a former Eagles assistant, has risen quickly through the NFL coaching ranks and now faces a tough task with a roster full of new faces and high expectations.—
Briana Aldridge,
CBS News,
18 June 2026
Adjective
-
This is Conolly’s Folly, built in 1740 at the height of a terrible famine.—
Amelia Soth,
JSTOR Daily,
18 June 2026
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The heroes who save us from these awful, terrible music haters do so with force.—
David John Chávez,
Mercury News,
18 June 2026
Adjective
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This is why getting a high-definition picture of a leader — through rigorous assessment, psychometric profiling, structured reference gathering, and behavioural history — is not an optional extra in the selection process.—
Tomas Chamorro-Premuzic,
Forbes.com,
19 June 2026
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Every gas article is based on rigorous reporting by our team of expert writers and editors with extensive knowledge of personal finance products.—
Kelsey Neubauer,
CNBC,
19 June 2026
Cite this Entry
“Formidable.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/formidable. Accessed 20 Jun. 2026.
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