Adjacent Words

Fierce definitions

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Webster's 1828 Dictionary

FIERCE, n. fers. [L. ferus, ferox, the primary sense of which is wild, running, rushing.]
1. Vehement; violent; furious; rushing; impetuous; as a fierce wind.
2. Savage; ravenous; easily enraged; as a fierce lion.
3. Vehement in rage; eager of mischief; as a fierce tyrant; a monster fierce for blood.
4. Violent; outrageous; not to be restrained.
Cursed be their anger, for it was fierce. Genesis 49.
5. Passionate; angry; furious.
6. Wild; staring; ferocious; as a fierce countenance.
7. Very eager; ardent; vehement; as a man fierce for his party.

WordNet (r) 3.0 (2005)

adj
1: marked by extreme and violent energy; "a ferocious beating"; "fierce fighting"; "a furious battle" [syn: ferocious, fierce, furious, savage]
2: marked by extreme intensity of emotions or convictions; inclined to react violently; fervid; "fierce loyalty"; "in a tearing rage"; "vehement dislike"; "violent passions" [syn: fierce, tearing, vehement, violent, trigger-happy]
3: ruthless in competition; "cutthroat competition"; "bowelless readiness to take advantage" [syn: cutthroat, fierce, bowelless]
4: violently agitated and turbulent; "boisterous winds and waves"; "the fierce thunders roar me their music"- Ezra Pound; "rough weather"; "rough seas" [syn: boisterous, fierce, rough]

Merriam Webster's

adjective (fiercer; fiercest) Etymology: Middle English fiers, from Anglo-French fer, fers, fiers, from Latin ferus wild, savage; akin to Greek th?r wild animal Date: 14th century 1. a. violently hostile or aggressive in temperament b. given to fighting or killing ; pugnacious 2. a. marked by unrestrained zeal or vehemence <a fierce argument> b. extremely vexatious, disappointing, or intense <fierce pain> 3. furiously active or determined <make a fierce effort> 4. wild or menacing in appearance • fierceness noun Synonyms: 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 <fierce warriors>. ferocious implies extreme fierceness and unrestrained violence and brutality <a ferocious dog>. barbarous implies a ferocity or mercilessness regarded as unworthy of civilized people <barbarous treatment of prisoners>. savage implies the absence of inhibitions restraining civilized people filled with rage, lust, or other violent passion <a savage criminal>. cruel implies indifference to suffering and even positive pleasure in inflicting it <the cruel jokes of schoolboys>.

Oxford Reference Dictionary

adj. (fiercer, fiercest) 1 vehemently aggressive or frightening in temper or action, violent. 2 eager, intense, ardent. 3 unpleasantly strong or intense; uncontrolled (fierce heat). 4 (of a mechanism) not smooth or easy in action. Derivatives: fiercely adv. fierceness n. Etymology: ME f. AF fers, OF fiers fier proud f. L ferus savage

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

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.

Collin's Cobuild Dictionary

(fiercer, fiercest) Frequency: The word is one of the 3000 most common words in English. 1. A fierce animal or person is very aggressive or angry. They look like the teeth of some fierce animal. = ferocious ADJ • fiercely 'I don't know,' she said fiercely. ADV 2. Fierce feelings or actions are very intense or enthusiastic, or involve great activity. Competition has been fierce to win a stake in Skoda... The town was captured after a fierce battle with rebels at the weekend... He inspires fierce loyalty in his friends. ADJ • fiercely He has always been ambitious and fiercely competitive. ADV: ADV adj, ADV with v 3. Fierce conditions are very intense, great, or strong. The climbers were trapped by a fierce storm which went on for days. ADJ

Soule's Dictionary of English Synonyms

a. 1. Savage, ferocious, ravenous, furious, infuriate, barbarous, fell. 2. Violent, vehement, impetuous, turbulent, tearing, uncurbed, untamed, fiery, passionate.

Moby Thesaurus

Draconian, Tartarean, abandoned, acid, acidulous, acrid, acrimonious, acute, aggressive, amok, angry, animal, antagonistic, anthropophagous, astringent, atrocious, awful, barbaric, barbarous, battling, beastly, bellicose, belligerent, bellowing, berserk, bestial, biting, bitter, bloodthirsty, bloody, bloody-minded, brutal, brutalized, brute, brutish, cannibalistic, carried away, caustic, chauvinist, chauvinistic, combative, concentrated, contentious, cruel, cruel-hearted, cutting, dangerous, delirious, demoniac, demoniacal, desperate, devilish, diabolic, dire, distracted, double-edged, drastic, dreadful, ecstatic, edged, enemy, enraged, enraptured, escharotic, excessive, exorbitant, exquisite, extravagant, extreme, fell, feral, ferine, ferocious, fiendish, fiendlike, fiery, fighting, fighting mad, frantic, frenzied, full of fight, fulminating, fuming, furious, great, grim, haggard, harsh, hawkish, hellish, hog-wild, homicidal, hopping mad, hostile, hotheaded, howling, hysterical, immoderate, impetuous, in a rage, in a transport, in hysterics, incisive, infernal, infuriate, infuriated, inhuman, inhumane, inimical, inordinate, intemperate, intense, intoxicated, intractable, jingo, jingoish, jingoist, jingoistic, keen, kill-crazy, mad, maddened, madding, malign, malignant, maniac, martial, menacing, merciless, militant, militaristic, military, mordacious, mordant, murderous, noncivilized, offensive, orgasmic, orgiastic, outrageous, passionate, penetrating, piercing, pitiless, poignant, possessed, pugnacious, quarrelsome, rabid, racking, raging, ramping, ranting, raving, raving mad, ravished, rigorous, roaring, roaring mad, rough, running mad, ruthless, saber-rattling, sadistic, sanguinary, sanguineous, satanic, savage, scathing, scrappy, severe, sharkish, sharp, simmering, slavering, soldierlike, soldierly, splitting, stabbing, stinging, storming, stormy, strident, stringent, subhuman, superlative, supreme, tameless, tart, tempestuous, terrible, threatening, tigerish, tornadic, tough, transcendent, transported, trenchant, trigger-happy, truculent, tumultuous, turbulent, unchristian, uncivilized, unconscionable, uncontrollable, unfriendly, ungentle, unhuman, unpacific, unpeaceable, unpeaceful, untamed, vehement, venomous, vicious, violent, virulent, vitriolic, volcanic, warlike, warmongering, warring, wild, wild-eyed, wild-looking, wolfish