foudroyant

English

Etymology

Borrowed from French foudroyant.

Pronunciation

• enPR: fo͞o-droi'ənt, IPA^(key): /fuˈdɹɔɪənt/

Adjective

foudroyant (comparative more foudroyant, superlative most foudroyant)

1. Having an awesome and overwhelming effect.
   • 1968, W. H. Auden, “The Horatians,” Collected Poems, Modern Library (2007), page 773:

     […] As makers go, / compared with Pindar or any / of the great foudroyant masters who don't ever / amend, we are, for all our polish, of little / stature […]

2. (medicine) fulminant

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French

Etymology

From foudroyer.

Adjective

foudroyant (feminine foudroyante, masculine plural foudroyants, feminine plural foudroyantes)

1. (figurative) rapid
2. (figurative) devastating
3. (medicine) fulminant; fatal, deadly (coming on quickly and destructively)

   Il a contracté une méningite foudroyante.

   He contracted a fulminant meningitis.

Verb

foudroyant

1. present participle of foudroyer

Further reading

• “foudroyant”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012.

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German

Etymology

From French foudroyant.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [fudro̯aˈjant]
• Hyphenation: fou‧dro‧yant

• Audio:

  (file)

Adjective

foudroyant (not comparable)

1. (medicine) fulminant

Further reading

• “foudroyant” in Duden online