formidable

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The standard pronunciation is with the stress on the first syllable, although the word is often heard with the stress on the second syllable.

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Looking ahead to 2008, George W. Bush saw Hillary Clinton as a "formidable" Democratic presidential candidate, which probably means he's glad he won't have to run against her:

"President Bush said Friday that Sen. Hillary Clinton, a potential candidate for the Democratic presidential nomination, is 'formidable,' but he declined to speculate on which Republicans might run for the White House in 2008."

Link: Bush Calls Hillary Clinton 'Formidable'

Posted January 29, 2006.

See our Word Overheard blog to see interesting uses of strange words.

adjective

1. Causing or able to cause fear: appalling, dire, direful, dreadful, fearful, fearsome, frightful, ghastly, redoubtable, scary, terrible, tremendous. See fear/courage.
2. Requiring great or extreme bodily, mental, or spiritual strength: arduous, backbreaking, burdensome, demanding, difficult, effortful, exacting, exigent, hard, heavy, laborious, onerous, oppressive, rigorous, rough, severe, taxing, tough, trying, weighty. See heavy/light.

adj

Definition: difficult, overwhelming
Antonyms: comforting, easy, not hard, pleasant, trivial

adj

Definition: horrible, terrifying
Antonyms: feeble, friendly, harmless, nice, pleasant, powerless, weak

For a list of words related to formidable, see:

• Cold, Unfriendly, Irritable, or Cruel
• Dominant, Stubborn, Proud, or Confident
• Strong, Bold, or Tough

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  See crossword solutions for the clue Formidable.

Dansk (Danish)
adj. - formidabel, frygtindgydende

Nederlands (Dutch)
gevreesd, geducht, ontzagwekkend

Français (French)
adj. - redoutable, impressionnant

Deutsch (German)
adj. - gewaltig, schrecklich, formidabel

Ελληνική (Greek)
adj. - τρομερός, δεινός, φοβερός, τεράστιος, υπερμεγέθης, δύσκολος

Italiano (Italian)
formidabile

Português (Portuguese)
adj. - terrível

Русский (Russian)
грозный, огромный, устрашающий

Español (Spanish)
adj. - temido, temible, formidable

Svenska (Swedish)
adj. - fruktansvärd, formidabel

中文（简体）(Chinese (Simplified))
强大的, 艰难的, 可怕的

中文（繁體）(Chinese (Traditional))
adj. - 強大的, 艱難的, 可怕的

한국어 (Korean)
adj. - 무서운, 방대한

日本語 (Japanese)
adj. - 恐ろしい, 手ごわい, 手に負えない, 恐ろしく大きい

العربيه (Arabic)
‏(صفه) مرعب , هائل‏

עברית (Hebrew)
adj. - ‮נורא, מפחיד, מעורר יראת-כבוד, שקשה להתנגד לו או להתגבר עליו‬

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