1
as in terrifying
causing fear
a formidable, irascible old man who frightened the neighborhood children
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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
2
as in difficult
requiring considerable physical or mental effort
running a marathon is a formidable undertaking
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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of formidable
Transitioning into a managerial role is both an exciting milestone and a formidable challenge.
—
Paola Cecchi-Dimeglio, Forbes, 25 Feb. 2025
The exec has formidable experience across the live-action and animation spheres as well as family fare.
—James Hibberd, The Hollywood Reporter, 25 Feb. 2025
Kingda Ka formed a formidable trio of top roller coasters — with Nitro and El Toro — that was hard to beat on the East Coast, if not the entire country.
—Mike Davis, USA TODAY, 22 Feb. 2025
On February 16, after their painfully close attempt three days prior, the two ski mountaineers reached the summit and then carved their signatures down the South Face of the Rockies’ most formidable peak.
—Jake Stern, Outside Online, 21 Feb. 2025
See All Example Sentences for formidable
Paola Cecchi-Dimeglio, Forbes, 25 Feb. 2025
The exec has formidable experience across the live-action and animation spheres as well as family fare.
—James Hibberd, The Hollywood Reporter, 25 Feb. 2025
Kingda Ka formed a formidable trio of top roller coasters — with Nitro and El Toro — that was hard to beat on the East Coast, if not the entire country.
—Mike Davis, USA TODAY, 22 Feb. 2025
On February 16, after their painfully close attempt three days prior, the two ski mountaineers reached the summit and then carved their signatures down the South Face of the Rockies’ most formidable peak.
—Jake Stern, Outside Online, 21 Feb. 2025
See All Example Sentences for formidable
Recent Examples of Synonyms for formidable
Adjective
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His first book, Dark Days vividly and unflinchingly chronicled his terrifying experience being jailed on charges of manslaughter (he was acquitted on all counts).—
Bill Kopp,
SPIN,
20 Feb. 2025
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For those who have watched DOGE storm into their workplace, what is perhaps most terrifying is its attempts to scale.—
Charlie Warzel,
The Atlantic,
19 Feb. 2025
Adjective
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Stars of Durant’s stature can be notoriously difficult to pin down for interviews.—
Darnell Mayberry,
The Athletic,
23 Feb. 2025
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But breaking with Russian gas has been difficult for Austria, which until recently was one of a handful of European countries to keep importing the fuel by pipeline.—
Stanley Reed,
New York Times,
23 Feb. 2025
Adjective
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The key, psychologists say, is the emotional weight of those headlines’ content—especially for people who find what’s happening in the U.S. today to be genuinely frightening.—
Meghan Bartels,
Scientific American,
21 Feb. 2025
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Bates is frightening in her stillness, which makes Annie’s sudden bursts of violence all the more horrifying.—
Tim Grierson,
Vulture,
21 Feb. 2025
Adjective
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Builders are facing a challenging market with mixed economic signals.—
David Faris,
Newsweek,
27 Feb. 2025
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This can be a challenging variable to track, given that there were insufficient details about the victim's mental health status in approximately 30% of incidents, Rad said.—
N'dea Yancey-Bragg,
USA TODAY,
27 Feb. 2025
Adjective
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Soto, Judge trade barbs Once, long ago — ahem, last season — Juan Soto and Aaron Judge formed the scariest hitting combination in MLB.—
Chris Branch,
The Athletic,
19 Feb. 2025
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But like the best scary movies, Horror has a strong ending.—
Brendan Hay,
SPIN,
19 Feb. 2025
Adjective
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Ties during Trump’s first term One of the hallmarks of the first Trump Administration was a tougher stance towards China compared to his predecessors, through tit-for-tat tariffs and an Indo-Pacific strategy that aimed to curb Beijing’s growing influence in the Western Pacific.—
Chad de Guzman,
TIME,
27 Feb. 2025
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How to Bet Timberwolves vs. Lakers Following up a game like Tuesday's would be tough for the Wolves under any circumstances, but with Edwards battling a calf injury and DiVincenzo potentially sidelined, beating the Lakers in L.A. will be that much more difficult.—
David Faris,
Newsweek,
27 Feb. 2025
Adjective
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This is, on paper, a terrible idea for all involved.—
Zak Garner-Purkis,
Forbes,
27 Feb. 2025
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State of play: Cleveland is terrible at planting trees.—
Sam Allard,
Axios,
26 Feb. 2025
Adjective
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Using rigorous logical frameworks and Turing-computable methods, BigGraph ensures trustworthy, adaptable outcomes that align with business needs.—
Jason Phillips,
USA TODAY,
15 Feb. 2025
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That is thanks to many decades of rigorous bank supervision and regulation, as well as federal deposit insurance.—
Felix Salmon,
Axios,
14 Feb. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Formidable.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/formidable. Accessed 3 Mar. 2025.
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