powerful
Americanadjective
-
having or exerting great power or force.
- Antonyms:
- weak
-
physically strong, as a person.
a large, powerful athlete.
-
producing great physical effects, as a machine or a blow.
-
potent; efficacious.
a powerful drug.
-
having great effectiveness, as a speech, speaker, description, reason, etc.
- Synonyms:
- effective, cogent, forcible, convincing, influential
-
having great power, authority, or influence; mighty.
a powerful nation.
-
Chiefly South Midland and Southern U.S. great in number or amount.
a powerful lot of money.
adjective
-
having great power, force, potency, or effect
-
extremely effective or efficient in action
a powerful drug
a powerful lens
-
dialect large or great
a powerful amount of trouble
adverb
Synonym Usage
Powerful, mighty, potent suggest great force or strength. Powerful suggests capability of exerting great force or overcoming strong resistance: a powerful machine like a bulldozer. Mighty, now chiefly rhetorical, implies uncommon or overwhelming strength of power: a mighty army. Potent implies great natural or inherent power: a potent influence.
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of powerful
First recorded in 1350–1400, powerful is from the Middle English word powarfull. See power, -ful
Explanation
Something that's powerful displays, well, power. Your neighbor who just finished training to be a fireman probably looks much more powerful than he used to. We use powerful for many different senses of "strong." A powerful medicine is very effective. A powerful politician has more influence than most politicians. A powerful dog could probably knock you down. If you're reading a book written in folksy Southern vernacular, someone might use powerful to mean "very," as in, "that was a powerful good supper, Miss Jackson," or "you look powerful good tonight."
Vocabulary lists containing powerful
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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.
One of the most powerful positions in Washington, the chief of staff is gatekeeper to the president, agenda-setter in the White House and chief negotiator with Congress and other outside political interests.
From BBC ● Nov. 6, 2026
New computer simulations suggest that powerful magnetic fields hidden inside these stellar remnants could help them withstand crushing gravity and reach extraordinary masses.
From Science Daily ● Nov. 6, 2026
California’s three most powerful elected leaders — for the first time, all Latino — in their private meeting discussed healthcare, energy costs, artificial intelligence and implementing funding from an $11.25-billion housing bond voters approved Tuesday.
From Los Angeles Times ● Nov. 6, 2026
“A durable decline in energy prices could ease inflation pressures, restore some flexibility to Fed policy and provide a powerful tailwind for Asian duration markets,” he says.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Nov. 5, 2026
That simple affirmation must have given Mrs. Redfield powerful comfort.
From "American Spirits" by Barb Rosenstock
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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.
