
[Middle English, from Old French, from Latin formīdābilis, from formīdāre, to fear, from formīdō, fear.]
formidability for'mi·da·bil'i·ty or for'mi·da·ble·ness n.USAGE NOTE Traditionally formidable has been pronounced with stress on the first syllable, but recently the pronunciation with stress on the second syllable, which is a common variant in British English, appears to be on the rise in American English. The traditional pronunciation is apparently still preferred by a large majority of educated speakers, however. A recent survey shows that 80 percent of the Usage Panel use the pronunciation (fôr'mĭ-də-bəl), while 14 percent use (fôr-mĭd'ə-bəl). A few Panelists approved both pronunciations.
| former, latter, format, formality, formalism | |
| formula, forsake, forte |
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
Definition: difficult, overwhelming
Antonyms: comforting, easy, not hard, pleasant, trivial
adj
Definition: horrible, terrifying
Antonyms: feeble, friendly, harmless, nice, pleasant, powerless, weak

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
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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