Synonyms

perform

American

[per-fawrm] / pərˈfɔrm /

verb (used with object)

to carry out; execute; do.

to perform miracles.
to go through or execute in the proper, customary, or established manner.

to perform the marriage ceremony.
to carry into effect; fulfill.

Perform what you promise.

Synonyms:

effect, achieve, accomplish
to enact (a play, part, etc.), as on the stage, in movies, or on television.
to render (music), as by playing or singing.
to accomplish (any action involving skill or ability), as before an audience.

to perform a juggling act.
to complete.
to exhibit behaviors associated with (a particular social role or identity).

This study investigates the ways in which biracial Americans perform race in their day-to-day lives.
to behave in ways that exhibit (a socially acceptable belief, trait, or quality), often merely for show.

Nineteenth-century British women found in the antislavery movement a perfect way to perform empathy.

verb (used without object)

to fulfill a command, promise, or undertaking.
to execute or do something.
to act in a play.

to perform in the role of Romeo.
to perform music.
to go through any performance.
(of loans, investments, etc.) to yield a profit; earn income.
to have sexual intercourse.

I could not perform in my first intimate encounter with the love of my life.

perform British

/ pəˈfɔːm /

verb

to carry out or do (an action)
(tr) to fulfil or comply with

to perform someone's request
to present or enact (a play, concert, etc) before or otherwise entertain an audience

the group performed Hamlet
informal (intr) to accomplish sexual intercourse

he performed well

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Synonym Usage

Perform, discharge, execute, transact mean to carry to completion a prescribed course of action. Perform is the general word, often applied to ordinary activity as a more formal expression than do, but usually implying regular, methodical, or prolonged application or work: to perform an exacting task. Discharge implies carrying out an obligation, often a formal or legal one: to discharge one's duties as a citizen. Execute means either to carry out an order or to carry through a plan or program: to execute a maneuver. Transact, meaning to conduct or manage, has commercial connotations: to transact business.

Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

Inflected Forms

Participles

Conjugated Forms

Present

Past

Future

Etymology

Origin of perform

First recorded in 1250–1300; Middle English parformen, from Anglo-French parformer, alteration (by association with forme form ) of Middle French, Old French parfournir “to accomplish”; see per-, furnish

Explanation

To perform most often means to sing, dance act or put on any kind of show. Perform also means, however, to carry out almost any function or action — to do something, in other words. Parents love to watch their kids perform. Nothing delights mommy or daddy more than watching junior sing or dance in the school play. Later in life, though, they'll be happy when their kids perform acts of kindness or when they perform the duties required of them by their jobs. "The surgeon entertained the other doctors when he performed an aria from Rigoletto while he performed an appendectomy." Now that's impressive.

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Vocabulary lists containing perform

Jim Burke's Academic Vocabulary List

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TEKS ELAR Academic Vocabulary List (5th-7th grades)

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"Julius Caesar" by William Shakespeare, Act I

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Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

See Examples For:

perform performs performed performing

“Without Lilith Fair there would be no Daisy Chain,” said Olivia Rodrigo, who beckoned McLachlan to the stage Saturday night to perform her 1997 hit, “Building a Mystery.”

From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 1, 2026

In particular, the company sees opportunity to grow in the premium, science-led vitamins, minerals and supplements space, where its brands like Solgar and Pure Encapsulations continue to perform strongly, Chief Executive Philipp Navratil said.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 1, 2026

Singer Jorja Smith brought Kyla out on stage during her headline slot at All Points East festival in London last month to perform the track together.

From BBC ● Sep. 1, 2026

The first theory traces back to the same underlying factor that causes the stock market to perform poorly in September: a big uptick in seasonal affective disorder.

From MarketWatch ● Aug. 31, 2026

He had a clown costume himself, and he would perform at children’s parties sometimes.

From "An Elephant in the Garden" by Michael Morpurgo

As Don Omar sings, the darbuka drum prominently plays in the song; when Hakim performs, he does so over a thumping dembow beat.

From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 1, 2026

Leonard Nimoy as Mr Spock in Star Trek performs the Vulcan salute, which is usually accompanied with the words "live long and prosper"

From BBC ● Sep. 1, 2026

The “orchestration layer” refers to the “coordination of different AI models, agent deployment and workflows,” which Microsoft’s Copilot AI assistant performs well, Luria wrote in a previous note.

From MarketWatch ● Aug. 28, 2026

But for a single search, the A.I. performs “decently,” Mackey said.

From Slate ● Aug. 26, 2026

The boy is happy and performs very well in school.

From "Freakonomics: A Rogue Economist Explores the Hidden Side of Everything" by Steven D. Levitt

That meant that he only saw Gunn's controversial routine for the first time just before she performed at the Olympics.

From BBC ● Sep. 1, 2026

There were nearly 15 hospital staffers there for the C-section, which the family asked to be performed on the father’s birthday.

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 31, 2026

Here’s a summary of how the 11 sectors of the S&P 500 have performed during August, through early trading on Monday.

From MarketWatch ● Aug. 31, 2026

To understand why the effect occurs, the researchers performed detailed first-principles calculations.

From Science Daily ● Aug. 31, 2026

In effect, as a hero who’d come to the island and performed great deeds, he’d become part of the Icelandic sagas.

From "Endgame" by Frank Brady

Growth has been swift: In March, OpenAI said the ad program had reached $100 million in annualized revenue, which companies use to project a full year’s performance based on how something is currently performing.

From MarketWatch ● Aug. 31, 2026

Roan looked especially happy to be there, happily performing for free and her set did not disappoint.

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 30, 2026

The pop star has since returned to performing with a small run of shows in the UK, starting with a London gig in March.

From BBC ● Aug. 30, 2026

Effective logical error rates were 10 times lower than the underlying physical error rates, allowing the circuit to maintain unusually high fidelity even while performing a large number of quantum operations.

From Science Daily ● Aug. 30, 2026

Soviet players were traditionally serviced by a team of seconds, each performing an assigned task.

From "Endgame" by Frank Brady

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023