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

He accused them of having "breached their duties, performed actions contrary to the art of healing" and having "omitted all the acts they were required to perform."

From Barron's ● Oct. 8, 2026

In the biggest Top Fuel championships, drivers race for themselves and earn points based on how they perform against their competitors.

From BBC ● Oct. 8, 2026

These activities gave the animals more opportunities to perform the kinds of feeding behaviors that are part of life in the wild.

From Science Daily ● Oct. 7, 2026

A petaflop is a measure of processing speed that means the computer can perform 1 quadrillion calculations per second.

From MarketWatch ● Oct. 7, 2026

For example, because improvising music is far more complex than imitating basic patterns, the latter is required in order to perform the former.

From "Music and the Child" by Natalie Sarrazin

“DJing’s not about playing wicked records. It’s about playing wicked records on a system,” said Sam Shepherd, who performs under the name Floating Points.

From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 7, 2026

He’s a fan of Berkshire Hathaway’s own content, too, proud of how it performs on the video platform.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 6, 2026

We give him some gloves, and he performs heroics - makes some fantastic saves.

From BBC ● Oct. 6, 2026

Friendly outlets are the audience he performs for, while hostile ones are the villains he performs against.

From Salon ● Oct. 6, 2026

"Show us how a real champ performs the Heimlich maneuver."

From "Me Talk Pretty One Day" by David Sedaris

He accused them of having "breached their duties, performed actions contrary to the art of healing" and having "omitted all the acts they were required to perform."

From Barron's ● Oct. 8, 2026

Each workout was performed at 70% maximum capacity and consisted of 20 climbs, with 60 to 90 seconds of rest between climbs.

From Science Daily ● Oct. 8, 2026

But Matarazzo has plenty of stage experience, having performed on Broadway when he was a child.

From BBC ● Oct. 8, 2026

Alyxxx is a DJ who performed at Trans*cendent who stands out to Savage because of her ability to pivot on the fly.

From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 8, 2026

“Maybe you have to see it performed live to appreciate it.”

From "The Line Tender" by Kate Allen

Theranos falsely touted technology capable of performing medical tests using only a few drops of blood.

From Barron's ● Oct. 9, 2026

—Jed Bernstein, who runs a performing arts nonprofit in Aspen, on a renovation that will move the city’s airport runway by 80 feet.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 6, 2026

The music group also said it notified the defendants on Aug. 17 of “the material musical similarities” but that the defendants “continued reproducing, distributing, licensing, publicly performing and commercially exploiting” Dean’s “I’ve Seen It.”

From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 5, 2026

Within a year, he was performing his poetry on BBC 2 show Riverside.

From BBC ● Oct. 4, 2026

Guess it’s a good thing I plan on performing a demonstration anyway.

From "Amari and the Night Brothers" by B.B. Alston

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