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formidable

tremendous, great

adjective for-mee-DAH-bluh Less Common

Usage Note

Formidable is a classic 'false friend': in modern everyday French it simply means wonderful or terrific, whereas English 'formidable' means intimidatingly impressive. The word is invariable in form (same for masculine and feminine). Charles Aznavour played on both senses in his bilingual song For me formidable.

Examples

"Ce film est vraiment formidable, tu devrais le voir."

Natural Translation

This film is truly great, you should see it.

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