ferocious.

Showing extreme aggression, severity, or force.

Use it for

Words that belong together

• ferocious attack
• ferocious argument

On the page

The debate became ferocious once the figures were released.

Usage notes

Primary category: literary / elevated general. Forms: Comparative more ferocious; superlative most ferocious when comparison is meaningful. Legacy lexical fields mirror sense 1 only. Use numbered sense fields for all meanings. Established modern English lexical item. No separate regional spelling or grammatical inflection entry. Commonness: moderately common.