powerhouse
Americannoun
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powerhouses
plural
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Electricity. a generating station.
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a person, group, team, or the like, having great energy, strength, or potential for success.
noun
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an electrical generating station or plant
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informal a forceful or powerful person or thing
Usage
What does powerhouse mean? A powerhouse is a powerful, forceful, or dominant person, group, or thing. In a literal sense, a powerhouse is a station or plant that generates electricity. Although it can still be used this way, terms like power plant and power station are much more common. Powerhouse is far more commonly used in the figurative way, especially in context of sports and business. Example: Because they always win, they can always recruit the best players, which makes them a perennial powerhouse in the conference.
Other Word Forms
Noun Inflected Forms
Etymology
Origin of powerhouse
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:
Internationally, Ukraine hardly has the reputation of a winemaking powerhouse.
From Barron's ● Sep. 15, 2026
Regardless of ranking, the kingdom is a crude-exporting powerhouse and now sees its export capacity severely curtailed.
From MarketWatch ● Sep. 14, 2026
Western or Japanese alternatives can cost up to five times more than Chinese components, leaving defense contractors looking to Taiwan—an electronics powerhouse that can offer a middle ground.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 8, 2026
Even Universal and Illumination’s “Minions & Monsters” had a softer audience reception than previous installments of the powerhouse “Despicable Me” and “Minions” franchise.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 8, 2026
International economists often describe South Korea as the single most impressive example of what free markets, democratic government, and elbow grease can do to transform a small agrarian backwater into a global powerhouse.
From "Escape from Camp 14: One Man's Remarkable Odyssey from North Korea to Freedom in the West" by Blaine Harden
Israel, whose senior team have qualified for the World Cup just once, had beaten global powerhouses Brazil in the quarter-finals of the under-20 version of the tournament.
From BBC ● Sep. 17, 2026
The bank has joined a growing group of Canadian financial powerhouses committing massive capital to accelerate national economic development amid cross-border trade turbulence.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 14, 2026
Quebec and Ontario provinces in eastern Canada, the country's economic powerhouses, are especially expected to feel the pinch, they said.
From Barron's ● Aug. 22, 2026
Analysts say a takeover could reshape the payments space, bringing together major fintech powerhouses.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 29, 2026
How many mill towns saw their mills close; how many shoe towns saw the shoe industry move elsewhere; how many towns that were once textile powerhouses now buy all their linens from China?
From "The World Is Flat" by Thomas L. Friedman
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.
