formidable
Americanadjective
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causing fear, apprehension, or dread.
a formidable opponent.
- Antonyms:
- pleasant
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of discouraging or awesome strength, size, difficulty, etc.; intimidating.
a formidable problem.
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arousing feelings of awe or admiration because of grandeur, strength, etc.
-
of great strength; forceful; powerful.
formidable opposition to the proposal.
adjective
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arousing or likely to inspire fear or dread
-
extremely difficult to defeat, overcome, manage, etc
a formidable problem
-
tending to inspire awe or admiration because of great size, strength, excellence, etc
Other Word Forms
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formidabilitynoun
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formidablenessnoun
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nonformidabilitynoun
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nonformidablenessnoun
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superformidablenessnoun
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unformidablenessnoun
-
nonformidableadjective
-
quasi-formidableadjective
-
superformidableadjective
-
unformidableadjective
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formidablyadverb
-
nonformidablyadverb
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quasi-formidablyadverb
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superformidablyadverb
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unformidablyadverb
Etymology
Origin of formidable
First recorded in 1400–50; late Middle English, from French, from Latin formīdābilis “causing fear,” from formīd(āre) “to fear” + -ābilis -able
Explanation
People who are formidable inspire fear and respect thanks to their size, or special ability, or unusual qualities. If you're a wildly popular celebrity, you probably don't go anywhere without a formidable bodyguard. What's interesting about formidable is that we often tend to use it about things that are simultaneously scary and impressive. A formidable opponent is almost by definition a worthy one; a formidable challenge is almost by definition one worth rising to. Not surprisingly, this word is derived from the Latin formidare, "to fear."
Vocabulary lists containing formidable
List 3
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Words from "The Avengers"
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Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
Honey bees are proving to be formidable competitors for food in the UK, and scientists have discovered that they frequently use aggression to drive other pollinators away from flowers.
From Science Daily ● Oct. 22, 2026
But Bruch’s formidable skill at the keyboard masked a lifelong soft spot for strings.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 16, 2026
Scattered with former Premier League players, including Ederson, Nathan Ake, Romelu Lukaku and Nelson Semedo, the visitors would have been a formidable foe five years ago.
From BBC ● Oct. 14, 2026
Megaraptorans continued evolving across Gondwana, eventually becoming some of the largest and most formidable predators in their ecosystems.
From Science Daily ● Oct. 14, 2026
But you would never have got anyone at Crunchem Hall to admit that the Headmistress was a less formidable foe than the famous Frenchman.
From "Matilda" by Roald Dahl
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Get a wordDefinitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
