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
Related Words
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
In the Mood? 100 Words to Describe Emotions
Looking to grow your vocabulary? Check out this interactive, curated word list from our team of English language specialists at Vocabulary.com – one of over 17,000 lists we've built to help learners worldwide!
Hooked on a Feeling, List 1
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Words to Describe a Movie
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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.
Your letter is a powerful reminder that the biggest promotion is the one we can give ourselves: cutting back on our spending.
From MarketWatch • May 8, 2026
But against the powerful Thunder, Reaves didn’t get a chance to punctuate his comeback night with any emphatic celebration.
From Los Angeles Times • May 8, 2026
My research team has found that powerful stories keep members of a hate group galvanized, either by repeating the story over and over or by constantly adding fresh accusations and interpretations to it.
From Salon • May 8, 2026
"I feel calm for our country, it is powerful," Olga Nikolenko, a speech therapist who travelled from the southern city of Stavropol to watch her son march in the parade, said.
From Barron's • May 7, 2026
If any time is the time to be powerful, it’s right now.
From "Kwame Crashes the Underworld" by Craig Kofi Farmer
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.
