fierce

The word “fierce” means aggressively powerful, intense, or savage. In plain terms, extremely intense, aggressive, or powerful — and in slang, an admiring word for something bold and striking.

“Fierce” is pronounced feers (/fɪɹs/ in IPA).

Here is “fierce” used in a sentence: “A fierce storm battered the coastline overnight.”

“Fierce” is an adjective.

The word “fierce” comes from Latin. From Old French fers/fer, from Latin ferus, "wild, untamed.".

“Fierce” is a fairly common word in modern English, usually learned at around the B2 level.

“Fierce” has 2 distinct senses listed in this dictionary. The most common is: aggressively powerful, intense, or savage.

Both describe intense aggression, but ferocious almost always suggests savage violence or extreme intensity, while fierce has a broader range and can be used more mildly or even admiringly. You can speak of fierce loyalty or fierce competition, where "ferocious" would feel too violent.

Fierce suggests aggressive power, force, or savagery, while intense simply means very strong or extreme in degree without implying aggression. A fierce storm feels violent, whereas an intense storm is merely very powerful.

Fierce frequently pairs with nouns like competition, rivalry, loyalty, opposition, battle, and storm. It often describes strong emotions and hard-fought contests as well as the literal savagery of animals.