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formidable
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  • Art3mis looked like a formidable opponent.†   (source)
  • All her attention was given to her job, which was a formidable one, since there was only one nurse for every fifty babies.†   (source)
  • To a greater and greater degree his life revolved around a self-administered pharmacopoeia of steroids, amphetamines, mood elevators, and painkillers, and the drugs addled his once-formidable mind.†   (source)
  • Finally, there was the formidable difficulty of navigation.†   (source)
  • They looked lanky and tough, though not as formidable as Beatrice.†   (source)
  • But now, gazing upward at the most formidable-looking being we had ever encountered, we huddled closer to Papa.†   (source)
  • Whenever anyone complained about his nose, I always shared the story of the confident librarian who had overcome her formidable rhinal challenge.†   (source)
  • It was the only obstacle to getting onto the West Side Highway from the garage lot, but it was a formidable one.†   (source)
  • What a formidable figure the Grand Duke had been.†   (source)
  • The door was flung open to reveal a formidable lady in her mid-sixties.†   (source)
  • It is not their gastric juices that limit hyenas, but the power of their jaws, which is formidable.†   (source)
  • No matter how formidable cruel pretties were, surprise still had its advantages.†   (source)
  • I said no a lot because it made me happy to be wrapped in her formidable arms.†   (source)
  • Harry didn't stop to chat; Neville appeared to have mislaid his booklist and was being told off by his very formidable-looking grandmother.†   (source)
  • But when the New York Daily News reported that the couple had become engaged, Dawes's mother—the formidable Theodora Cabot Dawes—telegraphed a haughty one-word comment that was blown up into headlines: SON ENGAGED?†   (source)
  • Mrs Which's voice rolled formidably across the hall.†   (source)
  • She reads, During the entire day, a formidable school of sharks followed the ship, but the logic that is supposed to link each word to the next fails her.†   (source)
  • After all, it is not so long since our country was at war with the Empire of the Rising Sun and its formidable, well-trained soldiers.†   (source)
  • Even the summer of '64 was uninspired—except for the completion of the replacement Mary Magdalene, which was firmly set upon Owen Meany's formidable pedestal in the St. Michael's schoolyard, more than two years after the attack upon her predecessor.†   (source)
  • They made a formidable pair, gods help them all.†   (source)
  • She knew the man only by reputation; Bronze Yohn's cousin, from a lesser branch of House Royce, yet still a formidable lord in his own right.†   (source)
  • His muscles were still formidable, and visible enough beneath his jacket to stop the onslaught of any monster jokes incurred by his last name.†   (source)
  • At dawn, all day long, and at midnight, Phineas always had a steady and formidable flow of usable energy.†   (source)
  • Instead of a wizened crone, I'm met with a formidable woman made of steel and shadow.†   (source)
  • Longer would have required the mastery of some formidable tantric art.†   (source)
  • PARRIS: Goody Ann, it is a formidable sin to conjure up the dead!†   (source)
  • But now they were on the far side of one of the enemy's most formidable groups; they had, with terrible losses, passed through.†   (source)
  • That and the bio-bomb make a formidable combination.†   (source)
  • His grip was formidable.†   (source)
  • It might be a formidable enemy if it decided to attack.†   (source)
  • Willow is formidable that way.†   (source)
  • Powell was armed only with a pickax, but his incredible strength could turn that tool into a formidable weapon.†   (source)
  • As the cleric moved to his own place at what looked like a small throne behind an intricately carved but thoroughly modern desk, Sol noticed that the high priest was a native Lusian, gone to fat and heavy in the jowls, but formidable in the way all Lusus residents seemed to be.†   (source)
  • Romancing the Brick Wall THE MOST formidable brick wall I ever came upon in my life was just five feet, six inches tall, and was absolutely beautiful.†   (source)
  • Now his practice has become formidably wet.†   (source)
  • She was delighted to discover that Nicholas had sought the assistance of Scathach: she was a formidable ally.†   (source)
  • But as with any formidable talent, Alyss' imagination could be used for good or ill, and the queen saw mild reasons for concern.†   (source)
  • Sometimes the enemy was large and formidable, such as a hippo slipper; sometimes it was one pink, defenseless eraser.†   (source)
  • When Mr. Wandati eventually buckled—which didn't surprise me, Nila was a woman of formidable will—I informed Saboor and offered to drive him and Pari to Kabul.†   (source)
  • In the case of Carrie White, the only witness to any possible prologue to the final climactic events was Margaret White, and she, of course is dead Henry Grayle, principal of Ewen High School, had been expecting him all week, but Chris Hargensen's father didn't show up until Friday-the day after Chris had skipped her detention period with the formidable Miss Desjardin.†   (source)
  • But don't even try to go around him and bawl out one of his guys, because he could be a formidable adversary when riled.†   (source)
  • No magic visions, no formidable offensive abilities like, oh, shooting lightning bolts from my eyes or something?†   (source)
  • Jack decided he'd be a formidable opponent over cards.†   (source)
  • His saxophone skills were so formidable, I was certain he would become the foremost jazz instrumentalist of his generation, and if you think it's easy to get half a million views on YouTube playing jazz saxophone, think again.†   (source)
  • The smiling mistress of the little girls who went to bed because of hunger had her get onto the dining-room table, straddled her stomach, and mistreated her with wild gallops until her cries were drowned out by the bellows of a formidable male child.†   (source)
  • There stood a formidable man I later learned was Red Stevens.†   (source)
  • A Mentat Duke would be formidable indeed.†   (source)
  • As we talked, in fact, there were several key moments when he seemed to probe me for information, to find out what I knew, so he could add it to his own formidable database.†   (source)
  • His horse played nasty tricks on him, suddenly becoming a formidable female, a hard, wild mountain of flesh, on which he rode until his bones ached.†   (source)
  • A formidable combination.†   (source)
  • She'd be formidable, Norah decided, in a business situation.†   (source)
  • She had a reputation for being formidably intelligent, and in those days one often tended to hear of how she had humiliated this or that learned gentleman at dinner over some important contemporary issue.†   (source)
  • His smoothly shaved head adds to his formidable appearance.†   (source)
  • This created formidable problems not only for Oliver and me, but for the police and the prison authorities.†   (source)
  • The formidable glass-and-steel structure rose from its position on Front Street like a glittering needle threading the sky.†   (source)
  • A dead bolt but nothing formidable.†   (source)
  • Also, he had survived twenty years or more in a rough country, at a rough game, and could be expected to be formidable, if he was around.†   (source)
  • That will of iron is formidable, and I am quite exhausted by it all.†   (source)
  • Until that very moment he had shown up strongly, a most formidable adversary.†   (source)
  • Incumbents and front-runners obviously have more cash, but they only spend a lot of it when they stand a legitimate chance of losing; otherwise, why dip into a war chest that might be more useful later on, when a more formidable opponent appears?†   (source)
  • The white girls formed the feminist camp, boasting a force of numbers that make it Brown's most formidable interest group.†   (source)
  • Located in a narrow valley deep within wooded mountains, the objective was surrounded by enemy who had chiseled their homes into formidable, often terraced slopes and rocky cliff faces.†   (source)
  • She was formidable but still friendly, a no-nonsense player when it came to doing time, and a cheerful Christian who was quick with a wry observation.†   (source)
  • Pap felt that a formidable show of authority must be made.†   (source)
  • "Combat against a formidable foe," Cain says.†   (source)
  • These parts of his anatomy were harder than steel and made an adult lymrill truly formidable.†   (source)
  • For my one class, I picked feature writing under the formidable Mamie B. Herb, a woman with flaming red hair piled a foot high on her head.†   (source)
  • The next afternoon Serena called me and said that a formidable phalanx of radiologists, pediatricians, and cancer doctors had just spent an hour studying John's X rays and bone scans and ct scans.†   (source)
  • The British still held Charlestown, which was largely in ruins, and Bunker Hill, which was their citadel and a formidable advantage.†   (source)
  • As the river has found the only possible way through this ferociously formidable knot of mountains, there is no alternative but to follow it.†   (source)
  • The slim, quiet boy had been transformed into a very formidable-looking young man.†   (source)
  • Located in the lower Hindu Kush, the mountains and narrow valleys with steep sides serve as formidable natural obstacles.†   (source)
  • "Yes, you did," agreed the once-formidable Monk of Covert Services.†   (source)
  • I can tell he's a formidable opponent by the way the others warily approach him even though he is injured and far outnumbered.†   (source)
  • He looked more formidable when he wasn't in a crowd.†   (source)
  • For this eighteenth-century German philosopher he feels a respect that rises not out of agreement but out of appreciation for Kant's formidable logical fortification of his position.†   (source)
  • Ronald Niedermann was without doubt a very talented person who had physical attributes to make him a formidable and feared individual.†   (source)
  • She thrust out her bottom lip, a formidable weapon when painted magenta.†   (source)
  • This looked to be a pretty formidable arsenal.†   (source)
  • La Mesa would need four runs to tie, a formidable number, but the team was not the sort that got: this far by quitting.†   (source)
  • It had done likewise a hundred times in the initial struggles of the world, creating and nurturing some of the most formidable and cruel opponents of law across any of the universal planes.†   (source)
  • Always gracious, Choate turned down Tappan's advances with a letter that claimed his health would not permit an "undertaking of such a formidable, though no doubt honorable, task.†   (source)
  • Language remains a formidable frontier in the legacy of slavery.†   (source)
  • They were used to such exercises, and in no time at all they formed orderly rows that, though they had neither weapons nor equipment, made them look formidable.†   (source)
  • The sound of the shots would travel, drawing the attention of the maintenance personnel who, merely by closing the formidable iron gate at the entrance to the park, could prevent the gunmen from driving out.†   (source)
  • The practical difficulties looked formidable.†   (source)
  • Doña Zaida, once a formidable matriarch who ruled her eight sons by a resolute jealousy, spent long afternoons watching novelas on television and perfuming her thickening wrists.†   (source)
  • It turned out to be a formidable task.†   (source)
  • And to the south were visible the lofty spires and formidable minarets of New York City.†   (source)
  • You will never automatically allow predictions of catastrophe to drive you into despair, even if they appear formidable.†   (source)
  • Elaine Risley, looking anything but formidable in a powder-blue jogging suit that's seen better days, nevertheless can come out with a few pungent and deliberately provocative comments on women today.†   (source)
  • The adversary who is truly formidable is the one who works within the fortress walls, singing pleasant songs while licking honey off knives.†   (source)
  • It is a formidable record of treachery.†   (source)
  • Scattered around him, and staring at me with deep suspicion, were the fourteen large and formidable Huskies which made up his team.†   (source)
  • She is formidable and eccentric in the eyes of everyone, is scarcely accepted in the town.†   (source)
  • Isn't it incredible, isn't it formidable?†   (source)
  • I've even heard it said that Lord Siddhartha was, in his day, a formidable swordsman.†   (source)
  • He could quote things at great length (there was no way for them to know whether he was really quoting or inventing) and he had an uncanny ability to turn any trifling remark into an abstruse speculation wherein things that were plain as day to common sense became ominous, uncertain, and formidable, like buttresses of ruined cities discovered in deep shadow at the bottom of a blue inland sea.†   (source)
  • The staircase steps are seen to crumble under an obviously formidable weight.†   (source)
  • In woods, horsemen always seem taller and more formidable than in an open field.†   (source)
  • To cope with such pressures, to defy them or even to satisfy them, is a formidable task.†   (source)
  • "It is nothing very formidable," he said,   (source)
    formidable = intimidating or impressive
  • This accomplished, the outfit, though cut in half, was still a formidable bulk.   (source)
  • She was both formidable and vulnerable,   (source)
  • He was in a savage temper, and, standing over six feet from the ground, was as formidable an antagonist as even Buck could desire.   (source)
  • Buck had already dragged down a stray part-grown calf; but he wished strongly for larger and more formidable quarry, and he came upon it one day on the divide at the head of the creek.   (source)
  • Then she heads for the kitchen to begin the formidable task of cleaning up.†   (source)
  • But would these not make her an even more formidable tool for the Harkonnens?†   (source)
  • They faced an exceedingly formidable task.†   (source)
  • The more demigods under her care, the more formidable her magic.†   (source)
  • Everyone in the vehicle finds it a strange and formidable place.†   (source)
  • By then his groom had brought up his mount, a formidable brown courser armored as heavily as he was.†   (source)
  • Eragon eyed her formidable claws and said, "Wait!"†   (source)
  • In any other setting, the Sixer army would have appeared formidable.†   (source)
  • Saphira let out a long, coughing growl and curled her lip until a formidable row of teeth showed.†   (source)
  • Formidable indeed," the Duke murmured, and Paul saw the proud smile on his father's face.†   (source)
  • If you had finesse and subtlety to match such courage, you'd be truly formidable.†   (source)
  • We will woo the formidable Thufir Hawat.†   (source)
  • Most formidable, she was, though I didn't quite know how formidable.†   (source)
  • When you reach the House of Hades, you will meet a formidable enemy.†   (source)
  • The early evening traffic was less dense than the rush hour, but still formidable.†   (source)
  • It is without question one of the most formidable feats in sport.†   (source)
  • The combination of human creativity and godly power can be quite formidable.†   (source)
  • Even so, the RPF had grown and become formidable.†   (source)
  • The Atropos are formidable, but they are not the Fates, and fear was ever their greatest weapon.†   (source)
  • They were exiles and sons of exiles, dispossessed and unforgiven ...yet formidable fighters still.†   (source)
  • "This is the Smithy," said Miss Awolowo, pointing at a formidable-looking door of black iron.†   (source)
  • You would make a formidable opponent, I'm sure.†   (source)
  • Wild excitement clashed with trepidation—Madeleine had made him sound formidable.†   (source)
  • An old man and a hit of a dullard, but he has a son, Ser Daven, who is more formidable.†   (source)
  • She looked formidable as she walked back to rejoin the group.†   (source)
  • Once you discover its full abilities, you will be formidable indeed.†   (source)
  • Alexandra's Sunday corset was even more formidable than her everyday ones.†   (source)
  • She is most formidable and has the support of many.†   (source)
  • The more he examined this argument the more formidable it appeared.†   (source)
  • The bearing of the Great Lady was formidable.†   (source)
  • Ser Osmund Kettleblack looked formidable enough.†   (source)
  • They looked like a formidable fighting unit.†   (source)
  • The French had become formidable as never before.†   (source)
  • Hazel Levesque is not Hercules or Dionysus, but I think you will find her just as formidable.†   (source)
  • Not as formidable as I thought...or perhaps just stupid.†   (source)
  • Then and only then is their cruelty really formidable.†   (source)
  • A mountain of money that must have seemed as formidable, in its own way, as Suribachi.†   (source)
  • Ten thousand dragons is a formidable sum.†   (source)
  • Though Rosemont had passed on the race in favor of a journey east, it was still a formidable field.†   (source)
  • For a moment, the girl seemed to lose her formidable self-control.†   (source)
  • The boy was going to be a formidable reporter.†   (source)
  • Kessell must be mighty indeed if he held this formidable monster under his control!†   (source)
  • He would be a formidable foe before the jury.†   (source)
  • And if Eragon's suspicion was true, the king was even more formidable than they had suspected.†   (source)
  • Even Sam could appear almost formidable, clad heads to heel in Donal Noye's steel.†   (source)
  • Had she joined the Trench Rats because of Max's formidable reputation?†   (source)
  • They were led by Andimba Toivo ja Toivo, a founder of SWAPO and a formidable freedom fighter.†   (source)
  • Even with the moat frozen over, Winterfell's defenses remained formidable.†   (source)
  • The three talked long and late of the race, the most formidable of Seabiscuit's life.†   (source)
  • The Wall itself is a formidable obstacle.†   (source)
  • The refugee girl stood apart from the rest, leaning upon her formidable spear and staring at Max.†   (source)
  • It is the consistency in him that I believe makes him such a formidable businessman.†   (source)
  • If they are allowed to find their battle-lust again, they will prove a more formidable foe.†   (source)
  • Martell brings some formidable companions, it would seem.†   (source)
  • He had grown physically formidable in boot camp; he stood six feet now, all of it muscle and bone.†   (source)
  • A formidable bloop-bloop-bloop sounded within his belly.†   (source)
  • this diary conFIrms a formidable presence.†   (source)
  • Though tall and thin — the smallest of the giants — they were still a formidable force.†   (source)
  • The field, including two major stakes winners, was the most formidable Seabiscuit had ever faced.†   (source)
  • And pray that he is as formidable as he appears.†   (source)
  • To glimpse such a formidable presence is one thing.†   (source)
  • The pile of parchments was formidably high.†   (source)
  • Madame Lu commands a formidable presence.†   (source)
  • The one who didn'tcouldn't-understand the two made the formidable third.†   (source)
  • Edna Graves was much more formidable and contrary.†   (source)
  • Eugene had been easily satisfied of one thing-the formidable artist was free.†   (source)
  • Several of their friends looked in on them as the afternoon progressed, including Seamus Finnigan, Dean Thomas, and Neville Longbottom, a round-faced, extremely forgetful boy who had been brought up by his formidable witch of a grandmother.†   (source)
  • The noble sport', as Uncle Vernon called it, had made Dudley even more formidable than he had seemed to Harry in their primary school days when he had served as Dudley's first punchball.†   (source)
  • Although weighed just ninety-one pounds, her sparrowlike proportions disguised a formidable resolve; to an astounding degree, Yasuko had been propelled up the mountain by the unwavering intensity of her desire.†   (source)
  • "The owner of the Elder Wand must always fear attack," said Ollivander, "but the idea of the Dark Lord in possession of the Deathstick is, I must admit...formidable."†   (source)
  • Durr's home to listen to these three formidable women, Rosa Parks was always very kind and generous with me.†   (source)
  • The toll sailed over the expansive tops of all the elms, the great slanting roofs and formidable chimneys of the dormitories, the narrow and brittle old housetops, across the open New Hampshire sky to us coming back from the river.†   (source)
  • He showed the same attitude of solid Navy SEAL know-how, the same formidable steadiness, staring through his scope, those brilliant blue eyes of his scanning the terrain.†   (source)
  • Compared to the sunlit hallway, the interior that stretched beyond them seemed formidably dark, but as she stepped inside, candelabras came into view, along with black-and-white marble floors, large mahogany tables with red velvet chairs, a slumbering fire, mezzanines, bridges, ladders, railings, and then books—books and books and books.†   (source)
  • In her imagination's eye she saw her most formidable henchman, in the form of a kitten, padding silently along heart-shaped halls, past watch-posts where guardsmen said, "Hey, look at the cute cat," and, "Here, kitty, kitty."†   (source)
  • The curtains had been drawn back from the two beds at the end of the ward and two visitors were walking back down the aisle between the beds: a formidable-looking old witch wearing a long green dress, a moth-eaten fox fur and a pointed hat decorated with what was unmistakeably a stuffed vulture and, trailing behind her looking thoroughly depressed — Neville.†   (source)
  • Here, indeed, was a formidable sentence—one that was on intimate terms with the comma, and that held the period in healthy disregard.†   (source)
  • Around the grove stood a protective wall of trees even more formidable than the ones in the antechamber.†   (source)
  • We were all together, and we would make a formidable righting force if attacked, but we would be badly outnumbered, and we were now all inside a Taliban encirclement.†   (source)
  • His head was large and round, displaying formidable sideburns, a stylish goatee and some of the finest whiskers of the cat world, thick, long and white.†   (source)
  • They were both good ships, with formidable weapons and defenses, but neither craft would offer much protection in the epic shitstorm that was about to unfold on Chthonia.†   (source)
  • Iron spikes were set along the tops of formidable stone walls, and two fat round towers overtopped the keep.†   (source)
  • When it came time for each of us to assess our own abilities and weigh them against the formidable challenges of the world's highest mountain, it sometimes seemed as though half the population at Base Camp was clinically delusional.†   (source)
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