Definition of Formidable

formidable (adjective) - extremely impressive in strength or excellence

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How can formidable be used in a sentence?

  1. It's the formidable thing that is changing entertainment now.

    Source TED Talk: Peter Hirshberg On Tv And The Web
  2. That means I need to know how I tick, when I collapse, where my formidable points are, where my weaker points are.

    Source TED Talk: Scilla Elworthy Fighting With Non Violence
  3. And eventually you get to places where it is formidable and dangerous and unfortunately slides just don't do justice.

    Source TED Talk: Bill Stone Explores The Earth And Space
  4. (Laughter) They use these formidable devices like scoops, to remove the sperm from previous males that the female has mated with.

    Source TED Talk: Marlene Zuk What We Learn From Insects Kinky Sex Lives
  5. So as I showed you, they're usually found on these seals that are very, very tiny.And so given these formidable obstacles, one might wonder and worry whether one will ever be able to decipher the Indus script.

    Source TED Talk: Rajesh Rao Computing A Rosetta Stone For The Indus Script
  6. This high school dropout died at the age of 82, a formidable intellectual, cofounder and first CEO of the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, and founder of Schocken Books, an acclaimed imprint that was later acquired by Random House.

    Source TED Talk: Shimon Schocken The Self Organizing Computer Course
  7. Groups that are trying to help sex workers protect themselves against HIV and other occupational hazards, and NGOs that are helping unwed mothers like Faiza find a place in society, and critically, stay with their kids.Now these efforts are small, they're often underfunded, and they face formidable opposition.

    Source TED Talk: Shereen El Feki A Little Told Tale Of Sex And Sensuality
  8. Having the convenience and accessibility of regular screening options that are affordable, noninvasive and could provide results much sooner, would provide us with a formidable weapon in the fight against cancer.An early warning would allow us to get out ahead of the disease instead of merely following in its relentless wake.

    Source TED Talk: Joshua Smith New Nanotech To Catch Cancer Early
  9. " C'est formidable ", they exclaimed.

    Source NLTK Brown Corpus (Category: fiction)
  10. It is by no stretch of the imagination a happy choice and the arguments against it as a practical strategy are formidable.

    Source NLTK Brown Corpus (Category: editorial)
  11. Carvey considers that former Vice President Nixon would be Brown's most formidable foe, with ex-Gov. Knight a close second.

    Source NLTK Brown Corpus (Category: editorial)
  12. The weight of fame and history is formidable, and dreary steel engravings in schoolbooks do little to quicken interest and imagination.

    Source NLTK Brown Corpus (Category: belles_lettres)
  13. It was essential that he should restore his formidable reputation as a rip-roaring, ruthless gun-slinger, and this was the time-honored Wild West method of doing it.

    Source NLTK Brown Corpus (Category: adventure)
  14. They looked so formidable, however, so demanding, that I found myself staring at them in dismay and starting to woolgather again, this time about Francesca and her husband.

    Source NLTK Brown Corpus (Category: humor)
  15. Then there was Mark Howe and there was Henry Dwight Sedgwick, an accomplished man of letters who wrote in the spirit of Montaigne and produced in the end a formidable body of work.

    Source NLTK Brown Corpus (Category: belles_lettres)
  16. As an obvious consequence, obstacles to genuine interfaith communication have grown more formidable in one important area: relations between Christians and non-Christians in these lands.

    Source NLTK Brown Corpus (Category: religion)
  17. Upon intelligence that the formidable agitator was to favor them with his presence, the benighted inhabitants of Pawtuxet, alas, gave their allegiance to Massachusetts and asked that colony to expel the newcomers.

    Source NLTK Brown Corpus (Category: belles_lettres)
  18. Undoubtedly one merit of the vast panorama of Gentile conceptions of the Jew unfolded in the present anthology is that it provides a formidable body of material that invites critical examination in terms of reality.

    Source NLTK Brown Corpus (Category: belles_lettres)
  19. Against Seebohm formidable foes have taken the field, notably F. W. Maitland, whose Domesday Book And Beyond was written expressly for this purpose, and Sir Paul Vinogradoff whose The Growth Of The Manor had a similar aim.

    Source NLTK Brown Corpus (Category: belles_lettres)
  20. By comparison, Stone Harbor bird sanctuary's allies seem less formidable, for aside from the Audubon Society, they are mostly the snowy, common and cattle egrets and the Louisiana, green, little blue and black-crowned herons who nest and feed there.

    Source NLTK Brown Corpus (Category: editorial)
  21. Again, India has imposed formidable barriers against the entrance of additional missionaries, and fanatical Hindu parties are expected to seek further action against Christians once the influence making for tolerance due to Nehru and his followers is gone.

    Source NLTK Brown Corpus (Category: religion)
  22. What formidable obstacle is she now to bring forward?

    Source austen-sense.txt (NLTK Gutenberg Corpus)
  23. Before the gates there sat On either side a formidable Shape.

    Source milton-paradise.txt (NLTK Gutenberg Corpus)
  24. If this is living in the country, it is nothing very formidable.

    Source austen-emma.txt (NLTK Gutenberg Corpus)
  25. I give you notice -- You will find me a formidable antagonist on that point.

    Source austen-emma.txt (NLTK Gutenberg Corpus)
  26. That is as formidable an image as you could present, Harriet; and if I thought I should ever be like Miss Bates!

    Source austen-emma.txt (NLTK Gutenberg Corpus)
  27. I believe there is no man, except the President, of course, who is so seriously startling and formidable as that little grinning fellow in goggles.

    Source chesterton-thursday.txt (NLTK Gutenberg Corpus)
  28. He took a childish pleasure, as a younger brother might, in the formidable sword - stick which Flambeau always flung as he walked, and which now stood upright beside his tall mug of Munich.

    Source chesterton-brown.txt (NLTK Gutenberg Corpus)
  29. Syme also strolled across to the table, and found lying across it a walking - stick, which turned out on examination to be a sword - stick, a large Colt's revolver, a sandwich case, and a formidable flask of brandy.

    Source chesterton-thursday.txt (NLTK Gutenberg Corpus)
  30. Above all, we must realize that no arsenal, or no weapon in the arsenals of the world, is so formidable as the will and moral courage of free men and women.

    Source 1981 Inaugural Address
  31. Never before have men tried so vast and formidable an experiment as that of administering the affairs of a continent under the forms of a Democratic republic.

    Source 1905 Inaugural Address
  32. I believe that many of the difficulties in the way, which now appear formidable, will in a great degree vanish as soon as the nearest and best route shall have been satisfactorily ascertained.

    Source 1857 Inaugural Address
  33. Invasions may be made too formidable to be resisted by any land and naval force which it would comport either with the principles of our Government or the circumstances of the United States to maintain.

    Source 1817 Inaugural Address
  34. By making the President the sole distributer of all the patronage of the Government the framers of the Constitution do not appear to have anticipated at how short a period it would become a formidable instrument to control the free operations of the State governments.

    Source 1841 Inaugural Address
  35. When it was first perceived, in early times, that no middle course for America remained between unlimited submission to a foreign legislature and a total independence of its claims, men of reflection were less apprehensive of danger from the formidable power of fleets and armies they must determine to resist than from those contests and dissensions which would certainly arise concerning the forms of government to be instituted over the whole and over the parts of this extensive country.

    Source 1797 Inaugural Address
  36. Our challenges are formidable.

    Source 1980 SOTU Address
  37. The competition they provide is formidable.

    Source 1960 SOTU Address
  38. Our formidable air striking forces are a powerful deterrent to general war.

    Source 1959 SOTU Address
  39. These bills, added to the current costs of government we must meet, make a formidable burden.

    Source 1953 SOTU Address
  40. We have shown that we can also be a formidable foe to those who reject the path of peace and those who seek to impose upon us or our allies the yoke of tyranny.

    Source 1963 SOTU Address
  41. Fifth, to enhance the already formidable ability of the Marine Corps to respond to limited war emergencies, I am asking the Congress for 60 million dollars to increase the Marine Corps strength to 190,000 men.

    Source 1961 SOTU Address
  42. With these formidable weapons, the adversaries of freedom plan to consolidate their territory -- to exploit, to control, and finally to destroy the hopes of the world's newest nations; and they have ambition to do it before the end of this decade.

    Source 1961 SOTU Address
  43. A coarse, formidable woman strode into the waiting room on spike heels.

    Source 2 B R 0 2 B by Kurt Vonnegut
  44. Miss Darcy and her brother appeared, and this formidable introduction took place.

    Source Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen
  45. He owed a good deal in town, but his debts of honour were still more formidable.

    Source Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen

Tips for Using formidable in a Sentence

You may have an easier time writing sentences with formidable if you know what words are likely to come before or after it, or simply what words are often found in the same sentence.

Frequent Predecessors

Words that often come before formidable in sentences. For example: "a formidable" or "the formidable"

  • a
  • the
  • most
  • more
  • and
  • so
  • this
  • very
  • less
  • as

Frequent Successors

Words that often come after formidable in sentences. For example: "formidable ." or "formidable and"

  • .
  • and
  • to
  • task
  • than
  • in
  • as
  • enemy
  • obstacle
  • obstacles

Associated Words

Words that aren't necessarily predecessors or successors, but are often found in the same sentence.

  • foe
  • combatant
  • adversary
  • obstacle
  • opponent
  • obstacles
  • barrier
  • reputation
  • warrior
  • armour

Alternate Definitions

  • formidable (adjective) - extremely impressive in strength or excellence
  • formidable (adjective) - exciting fear or apprehension; impressing dread; adapted to excite fear and deter from approach, encounter, or undertaking; alarming
A sentence using formidable