tour de force

[ toor duh-fawrs, -fohrs; French toorduh-fawrs ]

/ ˌtʊər də ˈfɔrs, -ˈfoʊrs; French tur də ˈfɔrs /

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See synonyms for tour de force on Thesaurus.com

noun, plural tours de force

[toorz duh-fawrs, -fohrs; French toorduh-fawrs]. /ˌtʊərz də ˈfɔrs, -ˈfoʊrs; French tur də ˈfɔrs/.

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.

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.

a feat requiring unusual strength, skill, or ingenuity.

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Origin of tour de force

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

Words nearby tour de force

Touraine, Tourane, tourbillion, tourbillon, Tourcoing, tour de force, Tour-de-France, tour d'horizon, Touré, tourelle, tour en l'air

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

How to use tour de force in a sentence

In her aching memoir, she embarks on a tour de force examination of her childhood, marked first by her mother’s abandoning her when she was a toddler and later by the death of her beloved father.
The 10 Best Nonfiction Books of 2021|Annabel Gutterman|December 8, 2021|Time
Through the late 1960s, Capote claimed to be writing his masterpiece, his tour de force based on his swans, but several deadlines passed for it.
‘Capote’s Women’ is catnip to older pop culture fans|Terri Schlichenmeyer|December 4, 2021|Washington Blade
At 35, Hawa Hassan is already a tour de force when it comes to Somali food in America.
The Curious Warmth of Grandma’s Kitchen|Sohini Das Gupta|September 17, 2021|Ozy
Understated yet opulent, measured, and intensely creepy, it’s a tour de force in balancing uncomfortable levels of tension and suspense with deep pathos.
One Good Thing: The gorgeous horror movie St. Maud finds religious ecstasy in self-destruction|Aja Romano|May 14, 2021|Vox

Page’s tour de force performance in Hard Candy led, two years later, to Juno, a low-budget indie film that brought Page Oscar, BAFTA and Golden Globe nominations and sudden megafame.
Elliot Page Is Ready for This Moment|Katy Steinmetz|March 16, 2021|Time
His family memoir, Sweet and Low, is a tour de force of reporting and memory—tender, curious, and exceptionally funny.
The Stacks: How Leonard Chess Helped Make Muddy Waters|Alex Belth|August 2, 2014|DAILY BEAST
It is a tour de force of reporting: 13,000 words on a two-week deadline.
The Stacks: The Judas Priest Teen Suicide Trial|Ivan Solotaroff|June 28, 2014|DAILY BEAST
It's also a masterpiece of choreographed c--tery—Joffrey's final tour de force.
Game of Thrones’ ‘The Lion and the Rose’: Joffrey’s Demented, Shocking Royal Wedding|Andrew Romano|April 14, 2014|DAILY BEAST
And, of course, she's best known for her ball-busting tour de force as Ed Helms's wife in The Hangover.
‘Surviving Jack’ Star Rachael Harris Is No Longer ‘The Bitch'|Kevin Fallon|March 27, 2014|DAILY BEAST
As a result, his version is a technical tour de force but a movie that never gets under your skin.
Why the Original ‘Birds’ is Superior to Hitchcock’s Version|Malcolm Jones|November 9, 2013|DAILY BEAST
As a tour de force in the gentle art of lying, the snake-story is justly esteemed.
The Strand Magazine, Volume V, Issue 28, April 1893|Various
As a tour de force of geometrical imagination it would be difficult to parallel this hypothesis.
Archimedes|Thomas Little Heath
The physical tour de force, was one of those feats of agility in which Neb had been my instructor, ten years before.
Afloat And Ashore|James Fenimore Cooper
If the Mastersingers was a little less successful as a work of art we should still have to regard it as an amazing tour de force.
Richard Wagner|John F. Runciman
The music for such incidents cannot be of the highest beauty; here we have one of the cases of a tour de force.
Richard Wagner|John F. Runciman

British Dictionary definitions for tour de force

tour de force

/ French (tur də fɔrs, English ˈtʊə də ˈfɔːs) /

noun plural tours de force (tur, English ˈtʊə)

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

Word Origin for tour de force

literally: feat of skill or strength

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Cultural definitions for tour de force

tour de force

[ (toor duh fawrs) ]

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

tour de force

Origin of tour de force

Words nearby tour de force

Words related to tour de force

How to use tour de force in a sentence

British Dictionary definitions for tour de force

Word Origin for tour de force

Cultural definitions for tour de force