different between ferocious vs implacable

English

Etymology

Taken from Latin ferox (“wild, bold, savage, fierce”) (with the suffix -ous), from ferus (“wild, savage, fierce”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /f???????s/
• Rhymes: -????s

Adjective

ferocious (comparative more ferocious, superlative most ferocious)

1. Marked by extreme and violent energy.
   • 1975, Saul Bellow, Humboldt's Gift [Avon ed., 1976, p. 376]:

     But it seemed to me that there were few faces like his, with the ferocious profile that brought to mind the Latin word rapax or one of Rouault's crazed death-dealing arbitrary kings.
2. Extreme or intense.

Synonyms

• fierce

Derived terms

• ferociously

Related terms

• ferity
• ferocity
• fierce
• feral

Translations

Further reading

• ferocious in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, G. & C. Merriam, 1913.
• ferocious in The Century Dictionary, New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., 1911.
• ferocious at OneLook Dictionary Search

English

Etymology

From Middle English impl?c?ble (“immitigable, unappeasable”) from Old French implacable (“harsh, unrelenting; implacable”) (modern French implacable), from Latin impl?c?bilis (“unappeasable, implacable; irreconcilable”), from im- (variant of in- (prefix meaning ‘not’)) + pl?c?bilis (“placable; appeasing, moderating, pacifying, propitiating; acceptable”) (from pl?c? (“to assuage, pacify, placate; to appease; to reconcile”) + -bilis (suffix forming adjectives indicating a capacity or worth of being acted upon)).

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /?m?plæk?b(?)l/, /-?ple?-/
• (General American) IPA^(key): /?m?plæk?b?l/
• Hyphenation: im?pla?ca?ble

Adjective

implacable (comparative more implacable, superlative most implacable)

1. Not able to be placated or appeased.

   Synonyms: (obsolete) impacable, irreconcilable, unassuageable, (obsolete) unplacable, unpleasable

   Antonyms: appeasable, assuageable, pacable, pacifiable, placable
2. Impossible to prevent or stop; inexorable, unrelenting, unstoppable.

   Synonyms: relentless, unremitting, unyielding
3. Adamant; immovable.

Derived terms

• implacability
• implacableness
• implacably

Related terms

Translations

References

Catalan

Etymology

From Latin impl?c?bilis.

Pronunciation

• (Balearic, Central) IPA^(key): /im.pl??ka.bl?/
• (Valencian) IPA^(key): /im.pla?ka.ble/

Adjective

implacable (masculine and feminine plural implacables)

1. implacable (not able to be placated or appeased)

Derived terms

• implacablement

Related terms

• implacabilitat

Further reading

• “implacable” in Diccionari de la llengua catalana, segona edició, Institut d’Estudis Catalans.

French

Etymology

From Latin impl?c?bilis.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /??.pla.kabl/

Adjective

implacable (plural implacables)

1. implacable, harsh, unrelenting

Derived terms

• implacabilité
• implacablement

Further reading

• “implacable” in Trésor de la langue française informatisé (The Digitized Treasury of the French Language).

Spanish

Etymology

From Latin impl?c?bilis.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /impla?kable/, [?m.pla?ka.??le]
• Hyphenation: im?pla?ca?ble

Adjective

implacable (plural implacables)

1. implacable, harsh, unrelenting

Derived terms

• implacablemente

Related terms

• aplacar
• implacabilidad

Further reading

• “implacable” in Diccionario de la lengua española, Vigésima tercera edición, Real Academia Española, 2014.