fierce

B2 Topic:Describing Qualities

US /fɪɹs/ UK /fɪəs/ See IPA manual

adj adv Freq #6520

Meanings

1

adj
Very strong, violent, or intense.

A fierce storm battered the coast all night.
2

adj
Frightening or aggressive in appearance or behaviour.

The lion gave a fierce roar.
3

adj
Very determined and competitive.

There is fierce competition for the top jobs.

Thesaurus

Synonyms

1 adj · very strong, violent, or... ferocious furious raging savage

3 adj · very determined and... cutthroat

Word family

Forms fiercerfiercest

Derived forms fiercelyfiercenfiercenessfiercesomefiercityoverfierceunfierce

Related forms feral ferity ferocious

Common collocations

fierce attack Adjective + noun

Etymology

From Middle English fers, fiers, borrowed from Old French fers (“wild", "ferocious”), nominative of fer, from Latin ferus (“wild", "untamed”).

fers Old English ferus Latin

View etymology graph ->

Topics

Describing Qualities

# fierce

**Type:** Word
**Level:** B2
**Part of speech:** adj, adv
**IPA (US):** fɪɹs
**IPA (UK):** fɪəs
**Frequency rank:** 6520

## Meanings
1. Very strong, violent, or intense.
2. Frightening or aggressive in appearance or behaviour.
3. Very determined and competitive.

## Examples
- A fierce storm battered the coast all night.
- The lion gave a fierce roar.
- There is fierce competition for the top jobs.

## Derived Forms
- fiercely
- fiercen
- fierceness
- fiercesome
- fiercity
- overfierce
- unfierce

## Related Forms
- feral
- ferity
- ferocious

## Roots and Affixes
- Root: fers
- Root: ferus

## Etymology
From Middle English fers, fiers, borrowed from Old French fers (“wild", "ferocious”), nominative of fer, from Latin ferus (“wild", "untamed”).

## AI Etymology
Fierce comes from Middle English fers, fiers, borrowed from Old French fers (“wild", "ferocious”), nominative of fer, from Latin ferus (“wild", "untamed”). In current use, the main senses are “Very strong, violent, or intense” and “Frightening or aggressive in appearance or behaviour”.

## Topics
- Describing Qualities

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