| English Dictionary |
FIERCE
| Pronunciation (US): |  | (GB): | |
| IPA (US): |  |
Dictionary entry overview: What does fierce mean?
• FIERCE (adjective)
The adjective FIERCE has 4 senses:
1. marked by extreme and violent energy
2. marked by extreme intensity of emotions or convictions; inclined to react violently; fervid
3. ruthless in competition
4. violently agitated and turbulent
Familiarity information: FIERCE used as an adjective is uncommon.
Dictionary entry details
| Declension: comparative and superlative |
Superlative: fiercest
Sense 1
Meaning:
Marked by extreme and violent energy
Synonyms:
ferocious; fierce; furious; savage
Context example:
a furious battle
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)
Sense 2
Meaning:
Marked by extreme intensity of emotions or convictions; inclined to react violently; fervid
Synonyms:
fierce; tearing; trigger-happy; vehement; violent
Context example:
violent passions
Similar:
intense (possessing or displaying a distinctive feature to a heightened degree)
Derivation:
fierceness (the property of being wild or turbulent)
Sense 3
Meaning:
Ruthless in competition
Synonyms:
Context example:
bowelless readiness to take advantage
Similar:
merciless; unmerciful (having or showing no mercy)
Derivation:
fierceness (the property of being wild or turbulent)
Sense 4
Meaning:
Violently agitated and turbulent
Synonyms:
boisterous; fierce; rough
Context example:
rough seas
Similar:
stormy ((especially of weather) affected or characterized by storms or commotion)
Derivation:
fierceness (the property of being wild or turbulent)
Context examples
Mate lost temper with one of them that day and struck him. Expected fierce quarrel, but all was quiet.
(Dracula, by Bram Stoker)
A hard, fierce man, I should think, and one whom I should be sorry to offend.
(His Last Bow, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)
Very glad he was to get safely past them, for, with their bristling red beards and their fierce blue eyes, they were uneasy men to bargain with upon a lonely moor.
(The White Company, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)
Then he laughed about her, and asked me if I had ever seen such a fierce little piece of incomprehensibility.
(David Copperfield, by Charles Dickens)
It was a very fierce storm; the sea broke strange and dangerous.
(Gulliver's Travels into several remote nations of the world, by Jonathan Swift)
In the meantime the astonished team-dogs had burst out of their nests only to be set upon by the fierce invaders.
(The Call of the Wild, by Jack London)
Then suddenly, with a fierce gesture of his closed hand, like one who throws reserve to the winds, he began.
(The Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)
They had long legs and fierce eyes and sharp teeth.
(The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, by L. Frank Baum)
The fierce old man said nothing, but still glared at my companion.
(The Return of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)
She will get her business back into shape because she retained all of her clients and is fierce about fulfilling her promises to them.
(AstrologyZone.com, by Susan Miller)
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