different between fierce vs murderous

English

Etymology

From Middle English fers, fiers, borrowed from Old French fers (“wild", "ferocious”), nominative of fer, from Latin ferus (“wild", "untamed”)

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /f??s/
• (General American) IPA^(key): /f??s/
• Rhymes: -??(?)s

Adjective

fierce (comparative fiercer, superlative fiercest)

1. Exceedingly violent, severe, ferocious, cruel or savage.

   A fierce storm battered the coast.

   I felt a fierce loyalty to my family.

2. Resolute or strenuously active.

   We made a fierce attempt to escape.

3. Threatening in appearance or demeanor.

   The lion gave a fierce roar.

4. (slang, Ireland, rural) Excellent, very good.

   Q: "How was the party last night?" A: "Fierce!"

5. (slang, US, LGBT, fashion) Of exceptional quality, exhibiting boldness or chutzpah.

   Tyra said to strike a pose and make it fierce.

Synonyms

• (exceedingly violent): incessive
• (threatening in appearance or demeanor): incessive

Derived terms

• fiercely
• fierceness
• something fierce

Related terms

• feral
• ferocious

Translations

Adverb

fierce (not comparable)

1. (slang, Ireland, rural) Extremely; very.

   It was fierce cold last night.

References

• fierce at OneLook Dictionary Search
• fierce in The Century Dictionary, New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., 1911.

Anagrams

• Recife

English

Etymology

From murder +? -ous (suffix forming adjectives from nouns denoting possession or presence of a quality).

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /?m??d???s/, /?m??d??s/
• (General American) IPA^(key): /?m?d???s/, /?m?d??s/
• Homophone: murderess (one pronunciation)
• Hyphenation: mur?der?ous

Adjective

murderous (comparative more murderous, superlative most murderous)

1. Of, characterized by, or pertaining to murder or murderers.
2. Of a person: intending or likely to commit murder; bloodthirsty, homicidal.

   Synonym: (obsolete) assassinous

   Antonyms: nonmurderous, unmurderous
3. (often figuratively) Of an object: used to commit murder; capable of causing death; deadly, fatal.

   Antonyms: nonmurderous, unmurderous
4. (by extension) Very difficult.

   Synonyms: killing; see also Thesaurus:difficult

   Antonyms: see Thesaurus:easy

Alternative forms

• murtherous (obsolete)

Derived terms

• murderously
• murderousness
• nonmurderous
• unmurderous

Related terms

Translations

References

Further reading

• murder on Wikipedia.Wikipedia