fierce

English

Etymology

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

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /fɪəs/
• (General American) IPA^(key): /fɪɹs/
• (obsolete) IPA^(key): /fɜː(ɹ)s/

• Audio (US):

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ɪə(ɹ)s

Adjective

fierce (comparative fiercer or more fierce, superlative fiercest or most fierce)

1. Exceedingly violent, severe, ferocious, cruel or savage.

   A fierce storm battered the coast.

   • 2006, Kenneth Conibear, Northland Footprints:

     Their fights with other members of their own kind were always preceded by loud and fierce waulings or savage snarling and snapping of teeth […]

   • 2012, Michael Bryant, 28 Seconds: A True Story of Addiction, Tragedy, and Hope, Viking:

     One constituent spent an hour educating me on the history of pit bulls: the Molossians, the Mastiffs; the Greeks, Romans, Brits, Tibetans, and Germans; the crossbreeds. A common theme ran throughout their history: they were the fiercest of fighters, and eventually bred to fight—in wars during antiquity, in dog fights for centuries. Regardless, they were again and again attacking other dogs and people.

2. Resolute or strenuously active.

   We made a fierce attempt to escape.

   I feel a fierce loyalty to my kin.

   • 1902, John Buchan, The Outgoing of the Tide:

     Yet his passion for her had grown fiercer than ever, and he swore to himself that he would win her back from her phantasies. She, one may believe, was ready enough to listen.

3. Threatening in appearance or demeanor.

   The lion gave a fierce roar.

4. (slang, Ireland, rustic) Excellent, very good.

   Q: "How was the party last night?" A: "Fierce!"

5. (US, LGBTQ slang, fashion) Of exceptional quality, exhibiting boldness or chutzpah.

   Tyra said to strike a pose and make it fierce.

Synonyms

• (exceedingly violent): incessive
• (threatening in appearance or demeanor): incessive

Derived terms

• fiercely
• fierceness
• fierce snake
• something fierce

 

Related terms

• feral
• ferocious

Translations

extremely violent, severe, ferocious or savage

• Armenian: վայրագ (hy) (vayrag), կատաղի (hy) (kataġi)
• Azerbaijani: şiddətli (az), dəhşətli (az)
• Belarusian: лю́ты (be) (ljúty)
• Bulgarian: жесток (bg) (žestok), свиреп (bg) (svirep)
• Catalan: ferotge
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 殘忍／残忍 (zh) (cánrěn), 兇猛／凶猛 (zh) (xiōngměng)

• Czech: krutý (cs), nelítostný, zlý (cs)
• Danish: vild, voldsom
• Dutch: woest (nl)
• Esperanto: feroca (eo)
• Finnish: raivokas (fi), raju (fi), hurja (fi)
• French: féroce (fr)
• Galician: fero (gl), feroz (gl)
• German: wild (de), heftig (de)
• Greek:

  Ancient: γοργός (gorgós)

• Hungarian: vad (hu), ádáz (hu), dühödt (hu)
• Icelandic: svæsinn
• Ido: feroca (io)
• Ingrian: raju
• Irish: fiánta, borb
• Italian: feroce (it)
• Japanese: 激しい (ja) (はげしい, hageshii)
• Korean: 맹렬하다 (ko) (maengnyeolhada)
• Kurdish:

  Central Kurdish: دڕ (dirr)

  Northern Kurdish: dirr (ku)

  Southern Kurdish: دڕ (ku) (dirr)

• Latin: ferōx (la), trux
• Macedonian: жесток (žestok)
• Malay: ganas (ms), buas (ms)
• Maori: tainanakia, tarakaka (of wind), taratutū, tātāhau, totoa
• Middle English: fers
• Norman: féthu (Jersey)
• Norwegian: voldsom (no)
• Occitan: ferotge (oc), feròç (oc), fèr (oc)
• Old Church Slavonic: ꙗръ (jarŭ)
• Persian: درنده (fa) (darande), ژیان (fa) (žayân)
• Plautdietsch: grausom
• Polish: zawzięty (pl)
• Portuguese: feroz (pt)
• Romanian: feroce (ro), fioros (ro)
• Russian: свире́пый (ru) (svirépyj), лю́тый (ru) (ljútyj), неи́стовый (ru) (neístovyj)
• Sanskrit: उग्र (sa) (ugrá), चण्ड (sa) (cáṇḍa)
• Scots: fairce
• Scottish Gaelic: fiadhaich
• Spanish: fiero (es), feroz (es), enconado (es)
• Swedish: våldsam (sv)
• Tagalog: mabangis
• Thai: please add this translation if you can
• Turkish: vahşi (tr), sert (tr), azılı (tr), azgın (tr)
• Ukrainian: лю́тий (uk) (ljútyj)
• Vietnamese: please add this translation if you can
• Welsh: ffyrnig (cy)
• West Frisian: fûl

resolute or strenuously active

• Bulgarian: буен (bg) (buen), яростен (bg) (jarosten)
• Catalan: feroç (ca)
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: please add this translation if you can

• Czech: urputný, naprostý (cs)
• Danish: tapper, ihærdig
• Finnish: hurja (fi)
• Hungarian: elszánt (hu), elkeseredett (hu)
• Italian: risoluto (it)
• Portuguese: impetuoso (pt), ferrenho (pt)
• Russian: я́ростный (ru) (járostnyj)
• Scots: fairce
• Spanish: feroz (es)
• Swedish: tapper (sv), viljestark (sv), resolut (sv), aktiv (sv)
• Turkish: hararetli (tr)
• West Frisian: fûl

threatening in appearance or demeanor

• Bulgarian: заплашителен (bg) (zaplašitelen)
• Catalan: ferotge
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: please add this translation if you can

• Czech: ohrožující, divoký (cs)
• Danish: vild, frygtindgydende
• Finnish: hurja (fi)
• Galician: fero (gl)
• German: bedrohlich (de)
• Hungarian: veszedelmes (hu), fenyegető (hu), iszonyú (hu)
• Maori: wawana, tōtoto (referring to the eyes), rōtari
• Portuguese: feroz (pt)
• Russian: свире́пый (ru) (svirépyj), гро́зный (ru) (gróznyj)
• Scots: fairce
• Spanish: feroz (es), fiero (es)
• Swedish: hotfull (sv), skrämmande (sv)
• Turkish: vahşi (tr), sert (tr)

The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.

Translations to be checked

• Irish: ^{(please verify)} aindreanta, ^{(please verify)} anghlonnach
• Scottish Gaelic: ^{(please verify)} borb, ^{(please verify)} garg, ^{(please verify)} allaidh, ^{(please verify)} allta
• Welsh: ^{(please verify)} chwyrn (cy)

Adverb

fierce (not comparable)

1. (slang, Ireland, rustic) Extremely; very.

   It was fierce cold last night.

References

• “fierce”, in OneLook Dictionary Search.
• “fierce”, in The Century Dictionary […], New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., 1911, →OCLC.

Anagrams

• Recife