| Library / English Dictionary |
FIERCE
| Pronunciation (US): |  | (GB): | |
I. (adjective)
Sense 1
Meaning:
Violently agitated and turbulent
Example:
rough seas
Synonyms:
boisterous; fierce; rough
Classified under:
Similar:
stormy ((especially of weather) affected or characterized by storms or commotion)
Derivation:
fierceness (the property of being wild or turbulent)
Sense 2
Meaning:
Ruthless in competition
Example:
bowelless readiness to take advantage
Synonyms:
Classified under:
Similar:
merciless; unmerciful (having or showing no mercy)
Derivation:
fierceness (the property of being wild or turbulent)
Sense 3
Meaning:
Marked by extreme intensity of emotions or convictions; inclined to react violently; fervid
Example:
violent passions
Synonyms:
fierce; tearing; trigger-happy; vehement; violent
Classified under:
Adjectives
Similar:
intense (possessing or displaying a distinctive feature to a heightened degree)
Derivation:
fierceness (the property of being wild or turbulent)
Sense 4
Meaning:
Marked by extreme and violent energy
Example:
a furious battle
Synonyms:
ferocious; fierce; furious; savage
Classified under:
Adjectives
Similar:
violent (acting with or marked by or resulting from great force or energy or emotional intensity)
Derivation:
fierceness (the property of being wild or turbulent)
Context examples:
But this job is the fiercest I ever had.
(Martin Eden, by Jack London)
This done, they were riding away well pleased, when up sprang a fierce lion, and roared out, “Whoever has stolen my roses shall be eaten up alive!”
(Fairy Tales, by The Brothers Grimm)
The new study suggests that fierce winds may blow the sundered water molecules into the planets' nightside hemispheres.
(Water Is Destroyed, Then Reborn in Ultrahot Jupiters, NASA/JPL)
The fierce winter had now descended upon us.
(The Sea-Wolf, by Jack London)
And do not you fear the fierce vengeance of my arm wreaked on your miserable head?
(Frankenstein, by Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley)
But he is not a fierce white man, and I know he will die very easy; so I say to Bidarshik, 'My son, there is the white man for you to kill.'
(Love of Life and Other Stories, by Jack London)
A new study provides insight into how the small brains of mantis shrimp — fierce predators with keen vision — may process and integrate visual information with other sensory input.
(How mantis shrimp make sense of the world, National Science Foundation)
He was a singular man, fierce and quick-tempered, very foul-mouthed when he was angry, and of a most retiring disposition.
(The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)
The operation was performed amidst the fiercest yells and the most convulsive plunges.
(Jane Eyre, by Charlotte Brontë)
He started as if he had been shot, threw up his head, and cried out in a fierce tone, "Don't tell me that, Jo, I can't bear it now!"
(Little Women, by Louisa May Alcott)
