tour de force

American  

[toor duh fawrs, -fohrs, toor duh fawrs] / ˌtʊər də ˈfɔrs, -ˈfoʊrs, tur də ˈfɔrs /

noun

plural

tours de force

1. an exceptional achievement by an artist, author, or the like, that is unlikely to be equaled by that person or anyone else; stroke of genius.

   Herman Melville's Moby Dick was a tour de force.

2. a particularly adroit maneuver or technique in handling a difficult situation.

   The way the president got his bill through the Senate was a tour de force.

3. a feat requiring unusual strength, skill, or ingenuity.

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tour de force British  

/ ˈtʊə də ˈfɔːs, tur də fɔrs /

noun

1. a masterly or brilliant stroke, creation, effect, or accomplishment

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tour de force Cultural  

1. A feat accomplished through great skill and ability: “The speech was a tour de force; it swept the audience off its feet.”

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Etymology

Origin of tour de force

1795–1805; < French: feat of strength or skill

Example Sentences

The victory over the three-time Champions League winners, who are sitting pretty atop Serie A, continued Bodo's surprise tour de force in the competition.

From Barron's • Feb. 25, 2026

Her history of Kleenex tissues is a tour de force: We learn that the Kimberly-Clark Corp., which owns Kleenex, played on the fear that reusable handkerchiefs were essentially wads of tuberculosis germs.

From The Wall Street Journal • Jan. 23, 2026

Anderson said Abrahams was "vitally important" to the band's early line-up and developed his musical ideas into a "tour de force display of his instrumental talents for the rest of his performing days".

From BBC • Dec. 24, 2025

Julianne Moore, “Sirens” “Cristin Milioti brought arguably the tour de force of the year in ‘The Penguin.’

From Los Angeles Times • May 22, 2025

Lincoln’s speech was a political as well as a literary tour de force, and what was really clever about it—not to mention cheeky—was that he used it, in effect, to game the Constitution.

From "Words Like Loaded Pistols" by Sam Leith