having, showing, or able to exert great bodily or muscular power; physically vigorous or robust: a strong boy.
accompanied or delivered by great physical, mechanical, etc., power or force: a strong handshake; With one strong blow the machine stamped out a fender.
mentally powerful or vigorous: He may be old, but his mind is still strong.
especially able, competent, or powerful in a specific field or respect: She's very strong in mathematics. He's weak at bat, but he's a strong fielder.
of great moral power, firmness, or courage: strong under temptation.
powerful in influence, authority, resources, or means of prevailing or succeeding: a strong nation.
aggressive; willful: a strong personality.
of great force, effectiveness, potency, or cogency; compelling: strong reasons; strong arguments.
clear and firm; loud: He has a strong voice.
solid or stable; healthy; thriving: The banker predicted a strong economy.
well-supplied or rich in something specific: a strong hand in trumps.
having powerful means to resist attack, assault, or aggression: a strong fortress; a strong defense.
able to resist strain, force, wear, etc.: strong walls; strong cloth.
decisively unyielding; firm or uncompromising: She has strong views about the United Nations. He has a strong sense of duty.
fervent; zealous; thoroughgoing: He's a strong Democrat.
strenuous or energetic; vigorous: strong efforts.
moving or acting with force or vigor: strong winds.
distinct or marked; vivid, as impressions, resemblance or contrast: He bears a strong resemblance to his grandfather.
intense, as light or color.
having a large proportion of the effective or essential properties or ingredients; concentrated: strong tea.
(of a beverage or food) containing much alcohol: strong drink; The fruitcake was too strong.
having a high degree of flavor or odor: strong cheese; strong perfume.
having an unpleasant or offensive flavor or odor, especially in the process of decay: strong butter.
of a designated number: Marines 20,000 strong.
Commerce. characterized by steady or advancing prices: The market resumed its strong pace after yesterday's setback.
Grammar.
(of Germanic verbs) having vowel change in the root in inflected forms, as the English verbs sing, sang, sung; ride, rode, ridden.
(of Germanic nouns and adjectives) inflected with endings that are generally distinctive of case, number, and gender, as German alter Mann “old man.”
belonging to the morphophonemically less regular of two inflectional subtypes.
(of a word or syllable) stressed.
Optics. having great magnifying or refractive power: a strong microscope.
adverb
strongly.
Idioms
come on strong, Slang. to behave in an aggressive, ardent, or flamboyant manner: When you're interviewed for the job, don't come on too strong.
Origin of strong
before 900; (adj.) Middle Englishstrang, strong,Old English; cognate with Middle Dutchstranc,Old Norsestrangr; (adv.) Middle Englishstrange, stronge,Old English; cognate with Old High Germanstrango; akin to string
Related formsstrong·ish, adjectivestrong·ly, adverbstrong·ness, nouno·ver·strong, adjectiveo·ver·strong·ly, adverbo·ver·strong·ness, nounself-strong, adjectivesu·per·strong, adjective
involving or possessing physical or mental strength
solid or robust in construction; not easily broken or injured
having a resolute will or morally firm and incorruptible character
intense in quality; not faint or feeblea strong voice; a strong smell
easily defensible; incontestable or formidable
concentrated; not weak or diluted
(postpositive)containing or having a specified numbera navy 40 000 strong
(in combination)a 40 000-strong navy
having an unpleasantly powerful taste or smell
having an extreme or drastic effectstrong discipline
emphatic or immoderatestrong language
convincing, effective, or cogent
(of a colour) having a high degree of saturation or purity; being less saturated than a vivid colour but more so than a moderate colour; produced by a concentrated quantity of colouring agent
grammar
denoting or belonging to a class of verbs, in certain languages including the Germanic languages, whose conjugation shows vowel gradation, as sing, sang, sung
belonging to any part-of-speech class, in any of various languages, whose inflections follow the less regular of two possible patternsCompare weak (def. 10)
(of a wind, current, etc) moving fast
(of a syllable) accented or stressed
(of an industry, market, currency, securities, etc) firm in price or characterized by firm or increasing prices
(of certain acids and bases) producing high concentrations of hydrogen or hydroxide ions in aqueous solution
Irishprosperous; well-to-do (esp in the phrase a strong farmer)
have a strong stomachnot to be prone to nausea
adverb
informalin a strong way; effectivelygoing strong
come on strongto make a forceful or exaggerated impression
Old English strang "physically powerful, powerful in effect, forceful, severe," from Proto-Germanic *strangaz (cf. Old Norse strangr "strong," Dutch streng "strict, rigorous," Old High German strang "strong, bold, hard," German streng "strict, rigorous"). Originally compared strenger, strengest (cf. old/elder/eldest). Grammatical sense, of noun and verb inflections, is first attested 1841, translating German stark, used in a grammatical sense by J. Grimm (the terms strong and weak better fit German inflections). Strong suit (1865) is from card-playing. Strong man "man of great strength" (especially one who displays it professionally) is recorded from 1690s; meaning "dominating man in a political organization" is from 1859.
strong
adv.
Old English strange (alongside strongly), from the same source as strong (adj.). Going strong (1898) is from racing. To come on strong was originally come it strong (1812).
