Fierce

How to spell fierce

6 letters · 1 syllable

How to pronounce fierce

What does fierce mean?

1. adjectiveShowing violent, aggressive intensity, or marked by extreme strength of feeling or effort.

Fierce in a sentence

• The two firms were locked in fierce competition for the same clients.

• A fierce wind tore the tiles from the roof overnight.

Where does fierce come from?

Language of origin: French

This word came into English in the 1200s from the Old French fers or fiers, which meant 'proud', 'bold', or 'fierce'. That word descended from the Latin ferus, meaning 'wild', 'untamed', or 'savage', the same root that gives us 'feral' for an animal gone wild. In its earliest English use it could describe pride or brave spirit, but the sense soon settled on violent intensity and ferocious aggression. The spelling preserves the French 'ie' vowel pairing, which is the part that trips writers up, since the word is pronounced with a single drawn-out vowel rather than the order the letters suggest. Remembering its cousins 'ferocious' and 'feral' helps anchor the wild, untamed meaning behind it.

How the word is built

• fierce (single root; from Latin ferus 'wild')
• silent -e