ferocious

C1 Topic:Describing Qualities

US /fəˈɹoʊʃəs/ UK /fəˈɹəʊʃəs/ See IPA manual

adj Freq #13509

Meanings

1

adj
Very fierce, violent, or aggressive.

The ferocious dog barked and lunged at the gate.
2

adj
Extremely intense or severe.

The two rivals were locked in ferocious competition for the title.

Thesaurus

Synonyms

1 adj · very fierce, violent, or... fierce furious raging

2 adj · extremely intense or severe. extreme intense

More grimincessiveinfuriate rabid savage volatile wild

Opposites

calm peaceable

Word family

Derived forms ferociously ferociousnessmonstrocioussuperferociousunferocious

Related forms cruel feral ferity ferocity fierce

Etymology

Taken from Latin ferōx (“wild, bold, savage, fierce”) + -ous.

*ǵʰwer- Proto-Indo-European ferōx Latin

View etymology graph ->

Topics

Describing Qualities Word Formation & Derivatives

# ferocious

**Type:** Word
**Level:** C1
**Part of speech:** adj
**IPA (US):** fəˈɹoʊʃəs
**IPA (UK):** fəˈɹəʊʃəs
**Frequency rank:** 13509

## Meanings
1. Very fierce, violent, or aggressive.
2. Extremely intense or severe.

## Examples
- The ferocious dog barked and lunged at the gate.
- The two rivals were locked in ferocious competition for the title.

## Synonyms
- fierce
- furious
- grim
- incessive
- infuriate
- rabid
- raging
- savage
- volatile
- wild

## Antonyms
- calm
- peaceable

## Derived Forms
- ferociously
- ferociousness
- monstrocious
- superferocious
- unferocious

## Related Forms
- cruel
- feral
- ferity
- ferocity
- fierce

## Roots and Affixes
- Root: *ǵʰwer-
- Root: ferōx

## Etymology
Taken from Latin ferōx (“wild, bold, savage, fierce”) + -ous.

## AI Etymology
Ferocious is taken from Latin ferōx (“wild, bold, savage, fierce”) + -ous. The analysis is mainly morphological: the modern adjectival form is built from the named base and affix. In present-day use, it can mean very fierce, violent, or aggressive, or extremely intense or severe. Related forms include cruel, feral, ferity, ferocity, fierce. Derived formations include ferociously, ferociousness, monstrocious, superferocious, unferocious.

## Topics
- Describing Qualities
- Word Formation & Derivatives

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ferocious

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