performance
Americannoun
-
a musical, dramatic, or other entertainment presented before an audience.
-
the act of performing a ceremony, play, piece of music, etc.
-
the execution or accomplishment of work, acts, feats, etc.
-
a particular action, deed, or proceeding.
-
an action or proceeding of an unusual or spectacular kind.
His temper tantrum was quite a performance.
-
the act of performing.
-
the manner in which or the efficiency with which something reacts or fulfills its intended purpose.
-
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
-
the act, process, or art of performing
-
an artistic or dramatic production
last night's performance was terrible
-
manner or quality of functioning
a machine's performance
-
informal mode of conduct or behaviour, esp when distasteful or irregular
what did you mean by that performance at the restaurant?
-
informal any tiresome procedure
what a performance dressing the children to play in the snow!
-
any accomplishment
-
linguistics (in transformational grammar) the form of the human language faculty, viewed as concretely embodied in speakers Compare competence langue parole
Other Word Forms
- misperformance noun
- reperformance noun
Etymology
Origin of performance
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.
Which is not to say the performances are undistinguished.
From Los Angeles Times
They measured the charge-to-exciton conversion rate -- a measure of the OLEDs' ability to efficiently produce light -- along with performance during repeated stretching.
From Science Daily
If Mr. Linklater, a well-established New York stage actor, cannot make Ben’s emotional dithering either original or believable, he at least brings a taut intensity to his performance.
There’s also more on the line than usual for Messrs. Damon and Affleck, whose production company’s deal with Netflix reportedly includes performance bonuses for cast and crew, depending on how well the film succeeds.
But it's a lot easier to predict that it will be a dismal game, with Tottenham booed off after a bang-average performance that means Thomas Frank is still under pressure despite winning.
From BBC
Definitions 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.
