the formidable task of local government reorganizationformidablefor‧mi‧da‧ble /ˈfɔːmədəbəl, fəˈmɪd- $ ˈfɔːr-/ ●○○ adjective 
The building is grey, formidable, not at all picturesque. The new range of computers have formidable processing power.2difficult to deal with and needing a lot of effort or skillformidable task/challenge the formidable task of local government reorganization—formidably adverb
WORD ORIGINformidable
Origin:
1300-1400 Latin formidabilis, from formido ‘fear’EXAMPLES FROM OTHER DICTIONARIES
- Russia still has a formidable nuclear arsenal.
- The team faces some formidable opponents in the next week.
- They face the formidable task of working out a peace plan.
- A coalition of the young and old might, from even the most tentative beginnings, grow into a formidable force.
- But modern publishers knew they needed a very formidable, sure-selling author to make the installment plan succeed.
- Like her husband, she has formidable political skills and impressive recuperative powers.
- Sheltering the village with is impressive yet formidable presence is the north face of the Eiger.
- The resource implications of a meaningful software acquisition programme are formidable.
- Thereafter it evolved rapidly into a formidable force.
COLLOCATIONS FROM THE ENTRY the formidable task of local government reorganizationCOLLOCATIONS FROM OTHER ENTRIES
1very powerful or impressive, and often frightening: the formidable task of local government reorganization (=a very difficult one)· How to deal with waste is a daunting challenge for the west.
(=a very powerful enemy)· The North Vietnamese army proved to be a formidable enemy.
(=one that makes it very difficult to achieve something)· There are formidable obstacles to legal reform.
(=a very strong opponent)· In debate, he was a formidable opponent.
(=one that makes people have a lot of respect for someone or something, or be afraid of them)· After the meeting, I understood why he had such a formidable reputation.
(=very difficult)· Achieving these targets will be a formidable task.
COLLOCATIONS FROM THE CORPUSADVERB· Only two years established, barely thirty-three years old, and already he had a reputation as formidable as his father's.· He did, in fact, look every bit as formidable in his sleep as he did when awake.· So Abelard's theory seems to present me with a challenge as formidable as climbing Mount Everest.
· Something else, wilder, uninhibited, even more formidable than her mind, was completely in charge.· His campaign apparatus looks more formidable than his numbers in various polls seem to show.· Wings bigger and blacker and more formidable than any he had yet seen.· In the House, the task is more formidable.· He looked taller, more formidable, more patrician.· In a curious way he seemed more formidable than before.· He looked somehow smarter and more formidable now, than at the funeral.· Alone with Damian Flint Rachel found him even more formidable than he had at first appeared.
· And the most formidable threats to reproductive destiny that a human individual faces come from other human individuals.· A distillation of the riches of the existing law would be a most formidable task.· To begin with, these forces have created the most formidable barrier to animal movement on earth.· Has he signed up one of the most formidable Arabs to ride for his expanding pro team?· Don't you worry, some of the women I've met have proved to be the most formidable of foes.· She was above all a most formidable female.· Denbighshire have matched Flintshire's show of strength by naming their most formidable line-up in pursuit of the coveted last-four ticket.
· Canny trading played a big part in making the Orioles so formidable.
NOUN· To begin with, these forces have created the most formidable barrier to animal movement on earth.· Whether clipped into shape or left natural, barberry is a formidable barrier thanks to its dense foliage and profusion of thorns.· Other status groups erect less formidable barriers to entry.
· All this proved a formidable challenge to our sweeper, a delightful Rajasthani lady named Murti.· The formidable challenge for progressive bishops and theologians who dominated the Second Vatican Council was to formulate a compelling alternative.· Working out an effective strategy to control it rather than let it control us is a formidable challenge.· Chess posed a formidable challenge for computer scientists.· At their most fully developed business information systems provide a formidable challenge to the creativity of archivists and historians alike.
· Damp is a formidable enemy and too much warmth as great a one, especially where leather bindings are concerned.· When legislation touches freedom of thought and freedom of speech, such a tendency is a formidable enemy of the free spirit.· To scoff at or curse the little men was to court disaster, for they made formidable enemies.
· Thereafter it evolved rapidly into a formidable force.· A coalition of the young and old might, from even the most tentative beginnings, grow into a formidable force.· There he was a formidable force.· Together they represented a formidable force, but the big question was whether they could work together.· MacArthur's guard was a formidable force.
· When it came to assembling facts and details, the system was a formidable obstacle.· To be sure, formidable obstacles lie ahead for advocates of a merger.· Selim had formidable obstacles to overcome, however, in modernising the archaic structure of the Ottoman empire.· The stairs were a formidable obstacle to son Michael, also, since we lived in a bungalow.· The Pennines presented the most formidable obstacles of all to the canals, but even they were successfully overcome.
· The character who can maintain such an idea is a formidable opponent to established order.· A formidable opponent, I suspect.· She had no vision of money as an independent power, or a formidable opponent.· Durable Free State prop Piet Bester has proved a technically formidable opponent.
· It is a formidable problem of optimisation but it is, at least, a potential solution.· For example, the modelling of the corporate sector, particularly allowing for imperfect competition, is likely to pose formidable problems.· Any attack on Beaumaris would have been presented with formidable problems.· Henry Livings faced formidable problems in tackling this new translation of the original Barber.
· A distillation of the riches of the existing law would be a most formidable task.· The new managers obviously had their work cut out for them: learning how to be a manager was a formidable task.· As with care within the household, the provision of care from outside can be a formidable task.· How to tantalize our lower-middle-class students was a formidable task.· Making money and turning out literate graduates are themselves formidable tasks, made none the easier when burdened with idealistic moral baggage.
· Mr Palumbo assembled a formidable team of architects and planners.· Harvard has assembled a formidable team of black academics under the leadership of Henry Louis Gates, a dazzling self-publicist.· They were organised and formidable teams before its formation.
· Somehow this small but formidable woman made her way through the throng to reach her son.
The building is grey, formidable, not at all picturesque. The new range of computers have formidable processing power.2difficult to deal with and needing a lot of effort or skillformidable task/challenge the formidable task of local government reorganization—formidably adverb