One way to make our acclaim forceful—attention-getting and convincing—is to associate it with powerful forces. Sinewy bridges. Incinerating wit. A fissionable fastball. Why hitch your wagon to feeble praise when you can harness the power of muscle, nature, even the atom?
We admire force and we fear it, often simultaneously. We cower before a forked-lightning thunderstorm, but acclaim it as earth-shattering or cataclysmic. Football fans cheer a brutal hit on a receiver while fearing for the player’s spine. A jolting, disturbing work of art wins raves as galvanic.
Qualities such as aggressiveness and recklessness, unappealing in one context, are laudable in another. We honor combat-hardened soldiers of a juggernaut-strength army, as long as they’re on our side. Hell-for-leather racing drivers are applauded. Mythological and comic-book superheroes must be crippling, indomitable mountains of brawn, unquailing nimrods. Even the most repellant notions of force can energize acclaim: an eviscerating blow to terrorism; a mutilating political satire.
Organisms may come to harm and even die by force; but what some call the “life force” drives them to function, grow, procreate, and think. The various names for this force—ch’i, élan vital, vis vitae, the vital force—suggest ways to acclaim the exceptional and mysterious energy of living things. “Mother was vis vitae itself, a presence that animated everyone around her.” Even the life force of plants—to pullulate and be jessant and fructuous —lends metaphors to the language of acclaim.
Some of our human life force shows up as “drive”—determination, persistence, and competitiveness. These are classic values of capitalism, and to acclaim them, no concept seems too ferocious. Smashmouth, tooth-and-nail , there-will-be-blood, and take-charge-and-chew-butt competitiveness is what most stockholders like to see.
Competitors who chew their way to the top, along with those who otherwise arrive there, acquire certain power labels meaning “leader.” Whether these are terms of praise or mockery depends mainly on how the leaders are regarded. High regard: “My son the top dog, the macher, the mogul, the kahuna.” As society has it, most such terms are slanted toward men, a bias that is no prize when it comes to expressions of low regard: “How did that jerk get to be head honcho, the nabob, the big cheese, the muckety-muck?” And how did he? By uncompromising, unremitting, and unsparing tactics, cutthroat determination, and pugnacious persuasion. Or maybe his mother owned the business.
TERMS
abrading
adamantine (unyielding, diamond-hard)
adrenalined
alacritous (eager, speedy readiness)
all briskness and bristle
all pluck
all-powerful
all-subsuming (encompassing within)
almighty
amped/amped-up
anvil-forged
aquiline (eaglelike)
argument-ender, an
artillery-grade
at full sail
atom-smashing
Attila 2.0
authority, the
avalanchine
ayatollah, an
backbone, the
balls-out bold
bare-knuckled
“Him the Almighty Power / hurled headlong flaming from the ethereal sky / with hideous ruin and combustion down / to bottomless perdition: there to dwell / in adamantine chains and penal fire, …”
—John Milton, Paradise Lost, 1674
anchored in granite
anchoring
battle-tested
beefed
bestial
big cheese, the
big dawg
big hitter, a
big Mach (re f., Mach 1 = speed of sound)
Big Man, the (God)
body by Peterbilt (truck maker)
body-slammer, a
bone-crusher, a
boots-and-all committed
both-barrels blazing
bracing
brass-knuckles tough
“[C]ritics wrote of her … galloping chords … and her broad dynamic range, from shadowlike pianissimo to artillery-grade forte.”
—Ben Fountain, “Fantasy for Eleven Fingers,” Brief Encounters with Che Guevara, 2006
big potato, the
big-play guy/girl, a
bigfoot, a (dominating figure or medium)
bigwig, a
bionic
bionically buff
biting
black-belt bad
blistering
blood-bleaching
bloody but unbowed
blowtorch, a
blunt
brawny
breaded (wealthy)
breakneck (recklessly fast)
brisk
broncobuster, a
broncobusting tough
bruising
brutal
bulked (muscular)
bull-by-the-horns leader, a
bulldozing
bulwark, a
bust-head bad
bust-nose bad
buttressing
caffeinated
cannonball express, a
cannonball, a
caporegime, the (I.: second in command, as a Mafia lieutenant)
carapacial (shelled)
case-hardened
cast-iron
cataclysmic
catapulting
caudillo, a (Sp.: military head of state; overlord, boss)
centripetal pull, a (drawing toward the center)
charged
ch’i/chi/ki/qi in full flow (ref., life force, energy)
ch’i/chi/ki/qi-powered (ref., life force, energy)
ch’i/chi/ki/qi-raising (ref., life force, energy)
chews butt
clawing
closer, a
cock of the roost, the
cocked, locked, and rocked (ready for battle)
cogent (forcefully convincing)
cold-cocking (knocking out)
collision-force
combat-hardened
combat-ready
combustive
comes out shooting
cometlike
compelling
concussive
connected
cosmic clangor, a
cower-before omnipotent
cranked
crescendo, a (increasing loudness or force)
crippling
crunching
crusher, a
crusher, the (something powerfully decisive)
cutthroat competitive
cyclonic force, a
czar/tsar, the
decisive
deluge
diehard, a
dignitary, a
dogged
double-barreled
doughty (determined, brave)
draw-first-blood competitive
dreadnought, a (ref., heavily armed ship; fearless person)
drive-by trash-talker, a
drubbing
durable
dynamic
dynamo, a
earthmoving
earthshaking
earth-shattering
el que más mea (Sp., Cuba:—Arturo Arabitg: brave, tough; literally “he who pees most”)
élan vital itself (organism’s force of growth and adaptive change)
electrodynamic
enforcer, an
eruptive sion or abundance)
fast-laner, a
fearful tough
fecund (fruitful)
fertile
fertilizing
feverous (fevered, feverish)
fiercely determined/committed
fiery
finisher, a
fireball, a
firebrand, a (powerful agitator)
fire-breathing
fired-up
fire-eater, a
fissionable
flinty
flourishing
force of nature, a
force to contend with, a
“An eviscerating wind blew in from the canals.”
—Elif Batuman, The Possessed, 2010
eviscerating
explosive
exuberant (increasing in profu-
forged
forged-steel
forked lightning (lightning that branches into zigzags)
formidable
fortifying
fortissimo (loud)
fracturing
fructuous (productive, fruitful)
fueled up
full-throttle
fulminant (coming on suddenly, explosively)
fulminating (exploding)
gale-force
galvanic (jolting)
game
gate-splintering
gavel wielder, the
girding (readying for conflict or challenging activity)
gladiatorally aggressive
go-getter, a
good to go
got burn! (ref., rocket engine burn)
got game (has winning, competitive skills)
“got some hard bark on him” (—Joel and Ethan Coen, film script, No Country for Old Men)
grandee, a
grinder, a
gritty
gut-buster, a
guts-up (extremely gutsy)
gutty
hairy-hearted
hammering
hand-to-hand competitor, a
happened (of an individual become successful)
hard
hardball
hard-boiled
hardened
hardbound
hardly a featherweight
hardy
has backbone
has heart
has the killer instinct
hatchet man/woman, a (specialist in firings or other cutbacks)
H-blast scary
headman, the
heart-blanching (removes color)
heavy hitter, a
heavy-duty
heavyweight
hegemonic (having influence over another state, region, group, etc.)
he-hombre
hell-bent
heller, a
hell-for-leather determined (reckless, fast)
hench, a (strong muscular person)
Herculean
hickory-hard
hide of tigers, like a
high muckety-muck, the (important but often arrogant person)
high-energy particle, a
high-pressure
high-testosteroned
higher-up, a
highflier, a
high-stakes gambler, a
high-test
high-test estrogened
high-voltage
high-wattage
holds the big cards
hombrón, an (Sp.: big man, a stud)
honcho, the (someone in charge, sometimes self-importantly)
Hubble-eyed (ref., the space telescope)
humbling
hummer, a (fast baseball pitch)
Hummer, a (ref., brand of heavy passenger vehicle)
Hunnish
hurricane-force
hustlerati, the
hypersonic (at least five times the speed of sound)
ignescent (sparks when struck)
ignipotent (ruling fire; fiery)
illuminati, the (supposed secret masterminds)
immovable
impelling
imperiling
imposing
impregnable
incinerating
indomitable
inexorable (unalterable, unyielding)
intrepid
invincible
iron ass, an (tenacious person)
iron-fisted
ironman/woman
ironwood-hard
irrepressible
jacked
jarring
jessant (shooting up straight)
jet-force impetus, with
juggernaut-strength (crushing force)
landslide, a
Large-Hadron-Collider spin, a (ref., world’s largest particle accelerator)
leap of leopards, like a
“Freddie Altaminaro … moved like a spirit raptured to heaven.
—T. Coraghessan Boyle, “La Conchita,” Wild Child, Viking, 2010.
juiced
juiced-in (politically connected)
kahuna, a (powerfully wise person)
kickass
kick-ass tough
kill-the-whole-kingdom-andphylum ferocious
kinetic
kingpin, the
knockout artist, a
KO/kayo king, the
Kundalini ascending (body’s powerful, coiled energy rising, as in Yoga)
lacerating
leathernecked
leathery
leonine
life-force-driven
like kryptonite to Superman (debilitating)
long-ball hitter, a
“low-center-of-gravity guy, a” (—John Madden, others)
Mach 5 (five times the speed of sound)
macher, a (Yi.: big shot; important man)
macho (emphatically masculine)
made (of an individual elevated to power)
mad-fecund
magisterial
magnate, a
magnum force (re f., highexplosive firearm cartridge)
mail-fisted
mana to spare (ref., supernatural power in body: influence, authority)
mandarin, a (elite, high-ranking, powerful personage)
man-mountain, a
manned-up
mano-a-mano competitive (Sp.: hand-to-hand)
martial
master/mistress of the universe, a (able to make big moves, as in finance)
meat-eating
medieval (fierce, cruel)
megaton and a half, a (megaton = explosive force of one million metric tons of TNT)
meteoric
militant
mogul/mughal, a (important, powerful person)
mojo-powered
money baron, a
money mogul, a
monster-truckish
mop-the-floor-with-you scary
moxie itself (aggressive boldness, nervyness)
Mt. Anzac at Gallipoli, a (mountain insurmountable by Australian troops)
“muscle in his step” (—Colum McCann)
mutilating
nabob, a (powerful—as in wealthy—person)
naked steel
nerves of titanium
nimrod, a (mighty hunter, mighty man)
no tea party
nob, a (UK, a person of social distinction)
no-holds-barred competitive
no-quit trouper, a
not exactly powerless
nuclear
oak-hewn
oligarch, an (leader of small, powerful governing group)
out-the-blowhole attention-getting
overflowing
overhead smash, an (tennis shot)
overmastering
overwhelming
packing iron (ref., carrying a gun)
panjandrum, a (an important person; used playfully and sometimes meaning inflated)
pants-wearing
paralyzing
paroxysmal (convulsive)
percolating
persevering
petrifying
pile-driving
pistoning
planetary momentum, a
plangent (loud, resounding, plaintive)
plenipotentiary (invested with full power of a position)
pneumatic
pollinating
potent
powder keg, a
power player, a
powered-up
powerhouse, a
prana (life-sustaining force, vital energy, Hinduism)
pressurized
primed for a killing (financial)
primum mobile, the (L.: the first moving; prime mover)
propelling
psyched
pugnaciously persuasive
puissant (powerful)
pullulating (germinating or breeding rabidly/abundantly)
pumped
punchy
puncture-proof
purpose-driven
puts your atoms in orbit
quail-before awesome
queen bee, the
quick-turn-burned (ref., in-air jet refueling: recharged)
rabid
radiating
radioactive
raging
raise-the-moat fearsome
Rambo, a
rammish
ramjet-propulsive
rampageous
rampant
ramrod, a
raw
rawhide
raw-knuckled
redoubtable (fearsome; commanding respect)
scare-spitless tough
scorched-earth tactician, a
score-settling
scrambler, a
scrapper, a
“In his grave, Franklin Roosevelt is spinning like an atomic dreydl.”
—Philip Roth, Sabbath’s Theater, 1995
reinforced concrete
resilient
resounding
resurgent (able to rise again, revive)
reverberating
ripped (muscular)
riptide, a
roaring
rocketborne
rocketing
rupturing
rutty
sachem, a (Native American leader; political boss)
Samson 2.0
scalding
scrotum-shrinkingly scary
seismic (like an earthquake)
seminal force, the
she who must be obeyed
shofar blast, a (ref., insistent battle/ritual horn in Jewish faith)
shogun, a (Japanese warlord)
shtarker, a (Yi.: a tough guy)
Siddhi-powered (able to execute supernatural mind/body acts, Hinduism/Buddhism)
sidewinder, a (powerful punch)
sinewy
singeing
skipper, the
smash-face
smashmouth
snake-eater, a (Special Forces soldier)
solar force
solid hickory
souped
sovereign
spark plug, a
spellbinder, a (powerful speaker)
spunky
squall, a (sudden, powerful windstorm, often wet)
stalwart
stampeding
staunch
steadfast
steel-toed
steely
stinging
stoked
stop-a-bullet hardass
stout
string-puller, a
strong-armer, a
sucker-punch specialist, a
sultan, a
supercharged
superluminal (faster than the speed of light)
supernova, a (powerful, brilliant last explosion of star)
supersonic
supreme
surging
sweeping
table-turner, a
take-charge-and-chew-butt serious
Tarzan 2.0
taurine (bull-like)
tectonic (ref., massive shifting plates of earth’s crust)
tempered (hardened)
tenacious
teraflop-fast (teraflop = 1 trillion math operations/second)
teravolt or two, a (teravolt = 1 million million volts)
thaumaturgic (able to work miracles or magic)
there-will-be-blood competitive
thermonuclear
three-fisted
thrustful
thundering/thunderous
to be reckoned with
tooth-and-nail tenacious
top banana, the (person in charge)
top dog, the (leading person)
tornadic
tornado-force
torqued
torrential
tough customer, a
tough-shelled
trample-underfoot intrepid
transmuting (changing one form to another)
tsunamic
tumultuous (crowd-level riotous, upheaving)
turbocharged
turbulent
turns on the heat
tussler, a
tycoon, a
typhonic
unblinking
unbowed
uncaged
uncompromising
uncontainable
uncontrollable
undergirding
underpinning
undertow, an
unfaltering
unfettered
unflagging
unflappable
unflinching
unleashed
unquailing
unquivering
unrelenting
unremitting
unshakable
unsparing
unstoppable
unswervingly driven
upthrusting
ursine (bearlike)
vigorous
vis vitae manifest (L.: life force)
vis viva manifest (L.: living force)
vital force, the
volatile
volcanic
vulcanized (strengthened as if by manufacturing process)
vuvuzelan (ref., insistent raucous horns of South African soccer fans)
walking force field, a
walking power grid, a
walking power plant, a
walking warhead, a
warlord, a
warp speed (fictional highest, superluminal speed)
warrior, a
weapons-grade
weight-trained
well-fixed
well-heeled
well-knit
well-padded
whip-cracking
whitewater (violently foaming rapids)
whitewash, a (unscored-upon victory)
wildfire
will clean your clock (thrash)
Wonder Woman 2.0
wrath-of-God awesome
yangy (having hot, light, active force of yang vs. opposite yin)
you breezed!
you butchered!
you detonated!
you drubbed!
you meat-axed!
you scalped!
you squelched!
you throttled!
you trampled!
zero-tolerant taskmaster, a
VINTAGE GOLD
big brains, the
brass guts, a
bright-eyed and bushy-tailed
his/her nibs (person in authority, demanding)
huckaback (tough fabric)
lickety-split
mettled
one tough cuss
rip-roaring
ripsnorting
rock-ribbed
stiff-rumped
tough as old boots
toughian, a
viripotent
Tough 
