formidable
/ˈfɔɹmɪdəbəl/adjective
formidable is spelled F-O-R-M-I-D-A-B-L-E. The wrong spelling people search most is formidible: about 70 Bing searches a month in the United States (September 2025 to August 2026), about 1 in 49 of all searches for the word. Formidable is an adjective meaning “Causing fear, dread, awe, or discouragement as a result of size, strength, or some other impressive feature…”.
How many letters and syllables are in formidable?
| Letters | 10: F-O-R-M-I-D-A-B-L-E |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 4 (from its American pronunciation) |
| In writing | 4.5 times per million words; the 12,045th most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | 1; the most searched, formidible, about 70 Bing searches a month (all of them) |
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); Bing searches in the United States: the average month from September 2025 to August 2026 (Microsoft Advertising keyword data through DataForSEO, read September 30, 2026).
How do you spell formidable?
Formidable is spelled F-O-R-M-I-D-A-B-L-E. One wrong spelling is searched or written often enough to measure; together they are about 1 in 49 of the searches for formidable in either form.
Bing searches in the United States: the average month from September 2025 to August 2026 (Microsoft Advertising keyword data through DataForSEO, read September 30, 2026). Wrong spellings are taken from Wiktionary entries tagged "misspelling" and its obsolete or nonstandard forms, Wikipedia's Lists of common misspellings and the codespell dictionary, then measured. The proofreader's marks show the change that corrects each one.
How common is formidable?
Formidable appears 4.5 times per million words in written English, the 12,045th 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 formidable?
- UK /fɔːˈmɪdəbəl/
- UK /fəˈmɪdəbəl/
- US /ˈfɔɹmɪdəbəl/
Formidable has 4 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: En-us-formidable.ogg, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
Forms of formidable
- more formidable comparative
- most formidable superlative
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does formidable mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
adjective
- 1
Causing fear, dread, awe, or discouragement as a result of size, strength, or some other impressive feature; commanding respect; causing wonder or astonishment.
- 2
Difficult to defeat or overcome.
a formidable opponent
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Formidable in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
| Language | Words |
|---|---|
| German | respekteinflößend, furchteinflößend, furchterregend, gewaltig, beachtlich, formidabel |
| Portuguese | formidável |
| Spanish | formidable |
| French | redoutable |
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 formidable come from?
From Middle English formidable, from Old French formidable, formible, from Latin formīdābilis (“formidable, terrible”) (whence -able), from formīdō (“fear, dread”).
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).