ferocious
pronunciation
How to pronounce ferocious in British English:
UK [fəˈrəʊʃəs]
How to pronounce ferocious in American English:
US [fəˈroʊʃəs]
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- Adjective:
- marked by extreme and violent energy
Word Origin
- ferocious
- ferocious: [17] Etymologically, ferocious means ‘wild-eyed’. It comes from Latin ferox, which was originally a compound formed from ferus ‘fierce, wild’ (source of English feral [17]) and an element -oc-, -ox meaning ‘looking, appearing’. This also appears in atrocious and ocular, and goes back to an Indo-European source which also produced Greek ōps ‘eye’ and English eye.=> atrocious, eye, feral, ocular
- ferocious (adj.)
- 1640s, from Latin ferocis, oblique case of ferox "fierce, wild-looking" (see ferocity). Alternative ferocient (1650s) is seldom seen. Related: Ferociously; ferociousness.
Example
- 1. A pair of benin leopards have cute whiskers , but are ferocious in their intensity .
- 2. India 's brothels are also unusually violent , with ferocious beatings common and pimps sometimes even killing girls who are uncooperative .
- 3. Whatever the cause , the fighting between kyrgyz and ethnic uzbeks has been ferocious .
- 4. During seven years on the job , chuck rosenthal earned a ferocious reputation .
- 5. But after his fall basra was gradually taken over by ferocious islamist militias .