redoubtable
/ɹəˈdaʊtəb(ə)l/
Word Rarity
Very rare
Frequency: Zipf frequency 2.16 in modern English
16
Scrabble Score
11
Letters
4
Syllables
9
Unique Chars
Meaning
adj
Especially of a person.
Example Sentences
- "The redoubtable New York Times has been called the “newspaper of record” of the United States."
- "VVhere ſuch an other Rodomont, ſo furious, ſo valorous, ſo redoutable?"
- "This new batch was sent to Leicester shed, and the redoubtable enginemen who had made such a reputation for themselves with the ex-G.C.R. Atlantics took to the "B17s" immediately, although, of course, they required quite different driving methods; […]."
- "Three local yobs have also joined, but they have not reckoned on a redoubtable Conductor and two local revenue protection officers who soon escort them off the train!"
- "[I]t pleaſed the grekes at that tyme to ſe yͤ body of Hector ſo trayned by Achilles⸝ bycauſe he was wont to be ſo redoubtab[l]e to them⸝ […]"
- "Revers'd that ſpear, redoubtable in war, / Reclined that banner, erſt in fields unfurl'd, / That like a deathful meteor, gleam'd afar, / And brav'd the mighty monarchs of the world.— […]"
Etymology
The adjective is derived from Late Middle English redoutable (“worthy of honour, venerable; frightening, terrible”), borrowed from Anglo-Norman redoutable and Middle French redoutable, redoubtable, from Old French redotable (modern French redoutable), from redoter (“to fear”) (whence Middle French redoubter, redouter, French redouter) + -able (suffix meaning ‘deserving of, worthy of’). Redoter is derived from re- (intensifying prefix) + doter (“to doubt; to fear”) (from Latin dubitō (“to doubt, be uncertain, waver in opinion”), probably ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *dwi- (“apart, asunder; two”) + *bʰuH- (“to appear; to be; to become; to grow”), in the sense of being in two minds). By surface analysis, redoubt (“to dread”) + -able. The noun is derived from the adjective.
Origin
Word Breakdown
Regional Pronunciation
- American English: /ɹəˈdaʊtəb(ə)l/
- British English: /ɹɪˈdaʊtəbl̩/
Usage
Inflected Forms
more redoubtable (comparative)
most redoubtable (superlative)
redoubtables (plural)