FIERCE!

1. having or displaying a violent or ferocious aggressiveness.

“fierce fighting continued throughout the day”

Synonyms:

ferocious, savage, vicious; wild, feral, untamed, undomesticated; aggressive, bloodthirsty, dangerous; cruel, brutal, murderous; menacing, threatening, terrible, grim
“a fierce black mastiff”

aggressive, cut-throat, competitive; keen, intense, strong, relentless
“they are facing fierce competition from American firms”

fierce: adverb

IRISH informal

very; extremely.

“he was fierce proud”

Now there you have it! You want fierce… you can have fierce! If I was still living on the wide open African plains about every one of the adjectives would’ve come into play… often. Imagine a stroll through one of the national parks. Imagine just being out in the midday summer sun. However, I no longer have to fear the fierceness of Africa. Here in Ireland the word takes on a totally different meaning. Well, most of the time…

Storms are still fierce… that they are! Lashing waves and driving rain… winds ripping the wild horses right off the top of the waves… fierce wild, I’ll have you know! So… that get’s me to the next meaning of the word. Here, in Ireland it can mean a number of things but basically it boils down to one strong affirmative synonym for VERY!

If I’m very happy… then I’m fierce happy… if I still have a long way to go then it’s fierce far! If I’m very thirsty… I’m fierce thirsty. When I’m angry… I’m not merely totally angry… I’m fierce MIFFED!  OK, you get my drift… well, at this stage, I should think so!

However, the core concept of the word usually has an elevated meaning… describing a lady’s beauty… so, as you’ve guessed… walking down a Dublin street you may hear snippets like this…

…she’s fierce stylish, no… she’s fierce hot… fierce ugly… fierce sexy… fierce glamorous… fierce whatever!!

OK… I’ll go before you think I’m getting fierce bold with all of this carry-on!