From Longman Dictionary of Contemporary Englishferociousfe‧ro‧cious /fəˈrəʊʃəs $ -ˈroʊ-/ ●○○ adjective 1 VIOLENTviolent, dangerous, and frightening SYN fierce a ferocious, hungry lion a ferocious battle The storm grew more and more ferocious with each second.► see thesaurus at violent2 VERYvery strong, severe, and unpleasant SYN fierce The congressman is one of the president’s most ferocious critics. The heat was ferocious. He is famous for his ferocious temper.3 relating to an emotion that is felt very strongly SYN fierce Parker was driven by a ferocious determination to succeed. —ferociously adverb
Examples from the Corpus
ferocious• Gang members have committed ferocious acts of violence.• Competition is ferocious among card issuers for new accounts.• Their faces were ferocious and intent.• It was one of the most ferocious attacks on prison officers I have ever seen.• The tiger is a ferocious beast which has already killed ten villagers.• These bears look ferocious, but attacks by them are extremely rare.• Defence lawyers claimed that the shooting was a spontaneous reaction, ferocious, but not part of a plan.• Ferocious competition has pushed computer prices down.• The ferocious defense actually would have begun long before the actual landings.• a ferocious hammerhead shark• Given the ferocious imagination of his subconscious, it's hardly surprising that his celluloid output is laced with lethal barbed wire.• My parents, similarly attired, were replacing the lean-to in the ferocious wind.• Fascinating Gubbio is best known as the place where Saint Francis tamed a ferocious wolf.Origin ferocious (1600-1700) Latin ferox “wild-looking”, from ferus “wild” 