讓人生畏的力量與難度
兩個意思其實是同一個畫面的兩面：一面看「那東西本身有多強」，一面看「輪到我去處理時有多難」。
powerfully impressive · adjective · C2
Very powerful or strong in effect, and often making people feel a little afraid.
強大可畏
核心畫面
One way to picture it: something so big or so strong that when you stand in front of it, a small chill of fear goes through you — you respect it, and you are not sure you can beat it.
眼前有個東西大得、強得讓你在它面前先矮了一截——不是嚇到逃走那種怕，而是你心裡先「哇」了一聲，知道它不好惹、也知道自…更多收起
眼前有個東西大得、強得讓你在它面前先矮了一截——不是嚇到逃走那種怕，而是你心裡先「哇」了一聲，知道它不好惹、也知道自己未必應付得來。這個字的重點永遠是「這東西讓面對它的人心裡發怵」。From the word’s history
Latin formīdō means "fear, dread"; formīdābilis is literally "to-be-feared", so the word has always described the thing that makes people afraid, not the fear itself.
拉丁文 formīdō 是「害怕、恐懼」，formīdābilis 字面就是「值得害怕的」。所以這個字從古到今指的都是「讓人害怕的那個東西」，而不是害怕的心情本身——這也解釋了為什麼 formidable 永遠是拿來形容對手、任務、力量，不是形容自己心裡的感受。
Middle English formidable ← Old French formidable ← Latin formīdābilis, from formīdō ("fear, dread") — as given in the entry's origin note.
One branch
原始詞典資料2 筆記錄
以下是外部詞典記錄的用法，原文照列，我們還沒有寫成教學內容。上面的說明才是我們自己寫的；有些用法可能上面已經講過了。
formidableadj/fɔːˈmɪdəbəl/
- 1
Causing fear, dread, awe, or discouragement as a result of size, strength, or some other impressive feature; commanding respect; causing wonder or astonishment.
- The latter part of the fifteenth century prepared a train of future events, that ended by raising France to a formidable power, which has ever since been, from time to time, the principal object of jealousy to the other European nations.
- […] and I am more afraid of those people than I am of Anytus and his colleagues, although they are formidable enough.
- 2
Difficult to defeat or overcome.
- a formidable opponent
- As I look back on that week in China two impressions stand out most vividly. One is the awesome sight of the disciplined but wildly—almost fanatically—enthusiastic audience at the gymnastic exhibition in Peking, confirming my belief that we must cultivate China during the next few decades while it is still learning to develop its national strength and potential. Otherwise we will one day be confronted with the most formidable enemy that has ever existed in the history of the world.
資料來源：英文維基詞典 English Wiktionary（CC BY-SA 4.0）。 原文照列，未經改寫。