Meanings
plural formidabilities
- uncountableusuallyThe state of being formidable.
A Mackintosh has been taken, who reduces their formidability, by being sent to raise two clans, and with orders, if they would not rise, at least to give out they had risen, for that three clans would leave the Pretender, unless joined by those two.
1890, Horace Walpole, Letters of Horace Walpole1 more example
As Damien Hirst’s diamond-encrusted platinum skull has recently indicated, Death’s formidability often encourages extravagance. Mr. Fabre covers a skull in brilliantly colored beetle shells; Mr. Van Oost casts one in silver (with a hand poking its eyes out).
2007 October 10, Roberta Smith, “Going the Way of All Flesh, Artistically”, in New York Times
Synonyms & antonyms
Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.
Origin
- Latinformīdō“to fear, dread”
- Englishformidability
From Latin formīdō (“to fear, dread”) + -ability.
More words from Latin
Full word history & related roots →Cite this entry
formidability. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/formidability
“formidability.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/formidability. Accessed November 3, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “formidability,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/formidability.
Source: formidability on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.