fe·ro·cious  (f ə-r ōsh əs)
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adj.1. a. Extremely aggressive or violent: a ferocious attack dog. b. Characterized by or showing extreme aggressiveness or violence: a ferocious glare; ferocious claws. 2. Extremely powerful or destructive: a ferocious gale. 3. Extreme in activity or feeling; intense: a ferocious demand for a product; ferocious courage.
fe·rocious·ly adv. fe·roci·ty (-rŏsĭ-tē), fe·rocious·ness n. |
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition copyright ©2020 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.
Indo-European & Semitic Roots Appendices
Thousands of entries in the dictionary include etymologies that trace their origins back to reconstructed proto-languages. You can obtain more information about these forms in our online appendices:
Indo-European Roots
Semitic Roots
The Indo-European appendix covers nearly half of the Indo-European roots that have left their mark on English words. A more complete treatment of Indo-European roots and the English words derived from them is available in our Dictionary of Indo-European Roots.
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