ferocious
/fəˈɹoʊʃəs/adjective
ferocious is spelled F-E-R-O-C-I-O-U-S: 9 letters and 3 syllables. It appears 1.6 times per million words in written English, the 22,073rd most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As an adjective, ferocious means “Marked by extreme and violent energy” (English Wiktionary, September 2026).
How many letters and syllables are in ferocious?
| Letters | 9: F-E-R-O-C-I-O-U-S |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 3 (from its American pronunciation) |
| In writing | 1.6 times per million words; the 22,073rd most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | none measured in search |
| Rhymes with |
Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation and the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media); rhymes and same-letter words are computed by PlainSpell from its own word list.
How common is ferocious?
Ferocious appears 1.6 times per million words in written English, the 22,073rd most frequent word form in the list.
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How do you pronounce ferocious?
- UK /fəˈɹəʊʃəs/
- US /fəˈɹoʊʃəs/
Ferocious has 3 syllables (counted from its American pronunciation in the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary).
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: LL-Q1860_(eng)-Vealhurl-ferocious.wav, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
What rhymes with ferocious?
2 words on PlainSpell end in the same sounds as ferocious from its last stressed vowel (/oʊʃəs/):
Computed by PlainSpell from the pronunciations in the English Wiktionary (dump of September 2, 2026): a rhyme shares every sound from the last stressed vowel to the end; ordered by written frequency (wordfreq 3.1).
Forms of ferocious
- more ferocious comparative
- most ferocious superlative
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does ferocious mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
adjective
- 1
Marked by extreme and violent energy.
- 2
Extreme or intense.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Ferocious in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
In the sense Marked by extreme and violent energy:
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Translations are Wiktionary's, by sense; a linked word has its own PlainSpell page.
Where does ferocious come from?
Taken from Latin ferōx (“wild, bold, savage, fierce”) + -ous.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).