performance
Americannoun
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performances
plural
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a musical, dramatic, or other entertainment presented before an audience.
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the act of performing a ceremony, play, piece of music, etc.
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the execution or accomplishment of work, acts, feats, etc.
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a particular action, deed, or proceeding.
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an action or proceeding of an unusual or spectacular kind.
His temper tantrum was quite a performance.
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the act of performing.
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the manner in which or the efficiency with which something reacts or fulfills its intended purpose.
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Linguistics. the actual use of language in real situations, which may or may not fully reflect a speaker's competence, being subject to such nonlinguistic factors as inattention, distraction, memory lapses, fatigue, or emotional state.
noun
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the act, process, or art of performing
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an artistic or dramatic production
last night's performance was terrible
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manner or quality of functioning
a machine's performance
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informal mode of conduct or behaviour, esp when distasteful or irregular
what did you mean by that performance at the restaurant?
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informal any tiresome procedure
what a performance dressing the children to play in the snow!
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any accomplishment
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linguistics (in transformational grammar) the form of the human language faculty, viewed as concretely embodied in speakers Compare competence langue parole
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Etymology
Origin of performance
Explanation
Performance has to do with doing something: a concert or play is a performance, and if you want to talk about how well the actors did, you'd rate their performance. The main sense of performance is artsy: actors and musicians (and other performers) give performances. You could praise an actor's performance in a movie, but this word extends to other kinds of work and accomplishments as well. If you're failing math, your performance is below par. An athlete can get in trouble for taking performance-enhancing drugs: drugs that make their performance better. Anytime you're talking about how something or someone works — or performs — you're talking about performance.
Vocabulary lists containing performance
Academy Awards, List 6
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myPerspectives 8.3
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"Principles of Business," Vocabulary from Chapter 6
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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:
However, insiders says the manufacturers are all aligned on wanting to design and build their own power-units and for engines to remain a performance differentiator.
From BBC ● Oct. 27, 2026
The underwhelming performance represents an opportunity, according to some analysts.
From MarketWatch ● Oct. 27, 2026
Connected TV, unlike linear, can reach very specific localities or consumer groups while allowing marketers to dial their spending up or down based on performance, she said.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 27, 2026
Depending on the approach, researchers observed reductions in inflammatory measures and improvements in several aging-related outcomes, including physical frailty, inflammation in the brain and performance on cognitive tasks.
From Science Daily ● Oct. 27, 2026
The boys earned prestigious Hitler Youth merit badges for outstanding performance.
From "Hitler Youth: Growing Up in Hitler's Shadow" by Susan Campbell Bartoletti
In particular, he writes, Capra excelled at motivating great performances.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 27, 2026
At the San Francisco Opera, a fight with the orchestra over compensation resulted in the cancellation of four stage performances and a free public concert last month.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 27, 2026
"Today we mourn the passing of Walter Koenig, whose talent, warmth, and unforgettable performances left a lasting mark on generations of fans around the world," read the statement.
From Barron's ● Oct. 26, 2026
There is only one Spaniard who deserves it, and that's Lamine Yamal, who has given us individual performances, collective trophies, and has that aura.
From BBC ● Oct. 26, 2026
Bouts of fighting will last the whole day, broken up by bardic performances, a few feats of clever magic, displays of archery, and other skills.
From "The Cruel Prince" by Holly Black
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Get a wordDefinitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
