Literary notes about Formidable (AI summary)
The term “formidable” in literature often conveys a blend of awe-inspiring power and daunting challenge, serving as a descriptor for both tangible obstacles and abstract, overwhelming forces. In some narratives it characterizes physical threats or military might, as when a powerful machine is likened to a battering-ram against an ice-field ([1]) or when a massive river presents an imposing barrier ([2]). In other contexts it underscores the inner strength, honor, or even the intimidating presence of a character, such as the debts of honor that rival personal relationships ([3]) or the almost insurmountable punishment awaiting sinners ([4]). Whether evoking a sense of physical impediment or moral gravitas, “formidable” lends a weighty, resonant quality to the situations or individuals it describes.
- Then, impelled by its powerful screw, it attacked the ice-field from beneath like a formidable battering-ram.
— from Twenty Thousand Leagues under the Sea by Jules Verne - A formidable river had to be crossed near Columbia, and that in the face of a small garrison under General Wade Hampton.
— from Personal Memoirs of U. S. Grant, Complete by Ulysses S. Grant - He owed a good deal in the town, but his debts of honour were still more formidable.
— from Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen - To-day, however, punishment isolates even more than the crime; the fate behind the sin has become so formidable that it is almost hopeless.
— from The Will to Power: An Attempted Transvaluation of All Values. Book III and IV by Nietzsche
